Kiyone
by Amysteriouswhisper
Summary: [Complete] The Tantei's new mission: protect Rhys. Who is she? Why does she need protection, including from herself? Another HieixOC. Other couples include KurxBot, KuwaxYuk. Rated for violence, among other things.
1. The Willing Prisoner

In light of the recent slaying of the CYOA's by ff.n, I have decided to re-do my first fic, which is not a CYOA. It _is_, however, a HieixOC fic. You know the drill, read it and review it. Don't care if it's a long one or one-worded, just make me feel loved.  
I am not worthy of owning YYH and its characters, but Rhys is my character and I own her and her problems. My apologies for any misspelled words or OOC-ness, but remember this was my first fic. Onward, readers!

**- - - -**

**Chapter One_  
The Willing Prisoner_**

**- - - -**

Hiei approached the door slowly and silently. Something was wrong...he didn't sense any danger. It might be some kind of trick. It must be. He raised his sword, ready for attack, and kicked the door open with a loud bang.

Looking cautiously around the room, his eyes drifted over peeling, stained walls and dirt-streaked, high windows. The cracked cement floor was littered with about six to ten demons. Were they...? Yes, they were sleeping. And deeply, it seemed, for none had stirred when he had crashed open the door.

He spotted a pile of rags housing a sleeping girl in the far corner and was next to it in a flash, putting his sword away. The girl was resting peacefully on her back in a worn dress that more resembled a rag, like the ones she slept on. Thin beams of a pink sunset filtered through the grime on the windows and hit her face at a gentle angle, drawing her features beautifully.

He didn't want to wake her. Then he'd have to explain. She might not go with him; he wasn't the type people usually trusted in a few minutes. He'd have to carry her out. He bent and moved rags away from her, revealing a thin figure. And something else...clean cuts and light bruises faulted the pale skin along her arms and legs. It must have been the demons who held her against her will. He would have Yukina heal her later. Right now he needed to get her out of there.

He turned from her and faced the sleeping demons on the floor. He wondered if they would wake up if he were to slash their throats...his hand drifted to his sword hilt and he slowly unsheathed it.

But before he could move forward he heard movement behind him. He swiftly turned and saw the girl was now awake, and hugging her legs to her chest with her arms. When she saw him, though, her back straightened and her eyes narrowed. "What do you want?" she hissed softly, seeing the sleeping demons. Her gaze shifted to the sword in his hand, which he dropped to the floor with a clatter.

"I was sent to get you out of here."

A relieved look flitted across her face, but was soon replaced by a hard stare. "I've heard that before. Just go away, or I'll be forced to make you." She rose from the rags and stood beside them, rising to her full height - which wasn't very tall. She was slightly shorter than Hiei by half an inch. After only standing for a few moments and staring determinedly into his dark eyes, she felt herself falling. Then blackness covered her vision.

Moments later she opened her eyes again, to find herself in the demon's arms. "T-Thanks," she stammered, blushing. Her defensive demeaner was suddenly gone, replaced by a gentler one.

"I'm Rhys," she said quietly.

"Hiei," he replied in his usual monotone.

There was a silence. "I haven't eaten in a few days, so I guess I must be pretty weak..." Rhys trailed off, looking out a window.

He voiced an infamous "Hn." and placed her roughly on the rags. "Stay here," he ordered, picking up his sword once more and disappearing into thin air.

He reappeared beside a sleeping demon and with a flash of his sword beheaded it. Rhys looked away, feeling slightly sick to her stomach. She heard the _swish _of his sword killing another demon and cringed. As much as she hated them, the demons really hadn't done anything to her. They shouldn't be punished for a pain they didn't inflict.

He was crouched in front a third demon, ready to strike. "Stop!" she called out.

He didn't drop his sword, but called out, "What?"

"Don't hurt them."

He was in front of her in the blink of an eye, making her jump. "Why shouldn't I?"

"They...they didn't do anything...to me. I came here on my own."

'Baka ningen,' he thought. 'Why is she protecting them?' "Do you expect me to believe you?"

"Do you have a reason not to?"

As much as he hated to admit it, she had him there. "Why would you come here?"

"I...had nowhere else. They took me in." Hiei was forcibly reminded of his own past...

_-- Flashback --  
_

"What's this?" The man's deep voice cut into the silence of the woods. He left his group of fellow theives and approached the small child, who glared at him and straightened his back. "What's your name?"

"Hiei."

The men gasped and stepped back. "The Forbidden One?"

He hated that name. "Yes," he said before stalking off into the forest, not sure of what he would do or where he would go.

"Come back here," demanded the leader.

Hiei whirled around, facing the group of theives. "What do you want with me?"

"It isn't safe for a child to wander these parts alone. Join us," the leader offered.

Hiei hesitated. This man was offering something Hiei had wanted for years...but what if he was lying? Hiei sneered. 'Liar,' he thought. 'He'll just leave me somewhere, or ... throw me off a cliff -'

His thoughts were cut short by the leader. "Well?"

The boy looked into the man's reassuring brown eyes. "Sure."

_-- End Flashback --  
_

Hiei blinked. "Are you okay?" questioned the girl, noting his blank expression.

"Hn." He glanced at the window. The last strands of sunlight wondering through the dirt on the windows, faintly streaking the floor. "We have to go," he reminded her.

She attempted to stand again, her legs shaking, and fell on the rags. She tried a few more times, then sat on the rags in defeat. "I can't..." Hiei sighed to himself and leaned towards her. "What are you doing?" she asked, backing away.

"Since you can't exactly walk out of here, I'm going to have to carry you. You'd be too slow, anyway." She nodded and he slid one hand under her knees and the other behind her back, trying to be gentle. She closed her eyes, rested her head against his warm chest, and felt herself being lifted. He jumped out of the room in a flash, feeling a red tinge creep into his cheeks when he realized Rhys had fallen asleep in his arms.

"Hiei, you've finally returned. Ah, and you have the girl with you." The speaker was a small toddler with a pacifier in his mouth. Hiei stood in front of him with Rhys in his arms. "Did you have any trouble with the gaurds?"

"Hn. You might as well have sent Kuwabara on this mission. The guards were all asleep." As he said this, Hiei gently placed the sleeping girl in an armchair in the middle of the room.

He turned to Kuwabara as his voice sounded. "What're you trying to say, midget!"

"I'm saying that even a thick headed oaf like you would have found this job easy," retored Hiei. Even though he didn't feel like fighting with Kuwabara right now, he had needed some distraction so that Kuwabara would stop staring at Rhys.

"I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S AN OAF!" cried Kuwabara, falling easily for it. He threw a punch, which Hiei easily dodged, resulting in him falling on the floor with a loud THUD.

Hiei smirked. "Didn't you learn this lesson long ago, baka? It's useless for someone like you to fight me," he said coolly, enraging the teen Spirit Detective more. Kuwabara stood up and angrily threw another punch. Hiei dodged easily again and felt the ground shake as Kuwabara fell yet again. "When will the others get here, Koenma?" Hiei asked the toddler.

"They should be here any minute. When they are, I can tell you more about this girl and your mission. In the meantime, look to your right," Koenma warned. Hiei looked just in time to see Kuwabara flying towards him, ready to kill him - or at least try. He laughed evily and stepped back, watching in amusement as the teen sailed straight past him and into the wall where he didn't move.

Koenma, who had been watching the one sided struggle, said, "You guys have got to stop beating up on each other. We're supposed to be fighting _evil_..."

There sounded a knock on the door. Botan entered the room smiling cheerily, closely followed by a serious looking Kurama, then a bored looking Yusuke. 'What is she doing here?' thought Hiei when he saw Yukina enter the office last. He retreated to a corner of the room and watched Yukina rush to heal Kuwabara.

"What's the urgent news?" asked the tall red head.

At this question, everyone looked expectantly at Koenma, who cleared his throat. "Your next mission centers around this girl," he said, glancing at the sleeping girl in the chair. Everyone except Hiei looked where he did, just seeing her. "Her name is Rhys. She is a rare Kiyone demon, one of the five I know exist." 'So she isn't a ningen...' thought Hiei. "I need you to protect her from the other demons who are trying to kidnap her to use her powers for their purposes."

There was silence for a moment, and Yusuke couldn't help asking, "What exactly are her powers?"

Koenma hesitated. "Well no one knows for sure what all of them are. From what I've seen, she seems to possess very advanced fire attacks. Once she learns how to harness her full power, I'm afraid she will be very near invincible - so watch out for her."

"How long do we have to babysit her for?" sounded a bored monotone.

Koenma chuckled to himself. "I think you'll find she might be babysitting you, Hiei. But stay with her until I tell you otherwise, all of you. I don't want you to let her out of your sight. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must prepare for when my father comes home. I don't want what happened last time to happen again... ." The toddler shuddered and walked out the door, leaving the group in a thoughtful silence.

Kuwabara, now fully healed, leaned against the wall and asked "So, where should we keep her?"


	2. Just Doing His Job

- - - -

**Chapter Two  
_Just Doing His Job_**

- - - -

Kurama lay the sleeping Rhys on his living room couch and covered her with a thick blanket. The group settled into the numerous chairs around the room: Kurama next to Rhys's feet, Yukina in a chair next to the couch, Hiei in an overstuffed chair, looking strangely at the sleeping girl, Yusuke and Kuwabara in the kitchen, and Botan nestling into a sagging Laz-E-Boy.

Kuwabara and Yusuke sauntered in slowly, looking depressed. "Can we order a pizza or something? I'm starved," complained Kuwabara.

"Look in the fridge, there might be something there," suggested Kurama.

Yusuke looked guilty. "We already did, and there's nothing."

Botan looked horrified. "Yusuke, you don't just walk into someone's house and raid their kitchen! Where are your manners!"

"It's ok, Botan," said Kurama, quietly amused. "My mother left on a business trip, so there's nothing to eat. You can order a pizza."

When the pizza arrived and every one had grabbed a slice, Yusuke took a giant bite or his pepperoni pizza and asked, "Showud'ya thingwe'sh oodoo wiher?"

"What was that?" asked Botan through hers and everyone elses giggles.

Yusuke reddened, swallowed, and then asked again, "So what do you think we should do with her?"

Everyone but Hiei glanced at the couch. "Get her another blanket, first of all. She's looks so cold," commented Botan. Kurama pulled another blanket from the closet and Yukina helped him cover Rhys again.

After a silence, Kuwabara said, "If the demons wanted her powers so badly, why were they sleeping?"

"We can only guess," said Kurama, looking at the girl's face. "Hiei, are you sure the demons were just sleeping?"

Hiei continued staring out the window into the dark night and replied, "Yes."

There was a sudden noise from the kitchen and Kurama looked up. "What was that?" asked Yukina fearfully.

"Don't worry, my love, I'll protect you!" said Kuwabara, as he, Kurama, and Yusuke hurried into the kitchen. Hiei just rolled his eyes. After a few moment's silence there was a cry, some _thuds_, then more silence. Yukina looked pleadingly at Hiei, who grudgingly got up and sauntered into the kitchen. He could immediately see the detective, teen, and kitsune unconscious on the floor.

His brow wrinkled in an uncharacteristic and rare show of his confusion until the creaking of the table caused him to look there. Sitting Indian-style was a red-eyed girl demon wearing black pants and a dark blue tank top ending at her mid-drift. "What, have you come to try and stop me, too?" she smirked devilishly and played with a lock of her brown hair.

'You're going to end up just like your friends,' she thought to a startled Hiei.

'How did you know...?' he thought.

'Why else would you wear a bandana?' She stretched out on the table. 'It's been much too long since I last talked to a Jaganshi. It's too bad I had to kill the last one.'

Hiei's hand, which had been resting on his sword hilt, twitched. 'What have you done to them,' he thought, looking at Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara.

Her eyes narrowed. 'They tried to attack me. I was just defending myself.'

'Who are you?'

'Your downfall,' was her last thought as she nimbly leapt off the table and behind Hiei.

He only had time to jump out of sight as she almost succeeded in being true to her word. The girl-demon waited until Hiei appeared again, looking around the room cautiously, ready to attack. As she was looking to her right, Hiei appeared to her left and slashed his sword through her stomach, then pulled it out again.

She glared at Hiei as she fell, thinking, 'It is not over yet,' and sinking to the floor in a pool of blood. Hiei waited a moment, making sure she was really dead, before starting to walk towards his three fallen friends.

As he stepped over the demon's legs, one of them shot up, causing Hiei to trip and land, crying out with pain, with his sword pierced through his stomach. He was cursing himself for falling for such a trap when he heard glass break and distant screaming over the ringing in his ears. He managed to raise himself halfway and look behind himself. There was a strange, golden light now engulfing the room, and Hiei wondered if he had died. 'But then why would there be golden light..?'

The source of light was coming from the doorway, but the pain from his wound wouldn't let him turn anymore. As the light neared him, he gasped audibly when he realized it was Rhys - her hair streaming behind her from an invisible wind and her skin glowing a bright gold. Her eyes were wide open, but Hiei couldn't tell for sure if she was awake or not - or maybe she was in a trance.

There was a thin line of light streaming from her eyes to the girl demon who had been about to kill Hiei. The demon's red eyes were wide with horror and she struggled to escape the light, but couldn't. Rhys stepped closer to the demon and with each step the light got whiter and whiter, until Rhys took the last step. The light became a blinding white and Hiei couldn't take the pain of turning around anymore. He lay flat on his stomach and closed his eyes.

He came to moments later, groggily rubbing his eyes and sitting up. His sword lay on the floor next to him and there was no wound in his stomach. 'What just happened? Did Rhys just save my life?' He had no more time to think, though, because Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara were now stirring.

Hiei leapt up, lest they see him on the floor and think he was almost killed by a lower class demon...he shuddered involuntarily. When all four of them were conscious again, Kuwabara's eye's suddenly widened. "YUKINA!" he cried, and sped into the living room, the others following quickly behind.

In the living room, Rhys was sleeping soundly again. Yukina was standing watch at her side and Botan was cleaning up the remains of a shattered window. Both looked white and were rather shaky. "What happened in here?" asked Kurama quietly.

Yukina replied, "After you went into the kitchen, we were trying to listen in and see what was going on...then another demon crashed in through the window and we all screamed - " Hiei remembered hearing the breaking glass and screaming, " - but then Rhys, she started glowing, and she shot a...well, I-I don't know what it was...but they were thin golden beams or something out of her eyes...and she picked the demon up with them... ."

Botan continued, "There was this really bright white light, and we both shielded our eyes. When we opened them again they - Rhys and the demon - were both gone...and we heard a cry from the kitchen -" 'It was probably me' thought Hiei, feeling horribly weak, "- and then we saw the same bright light... We had to cover our eyes again, because even from here it was really bright. I'm guessing what happened here happened in the kitchen too. But then when we opened our eyes again she was sleeping, just as she had been before. The blankets hadn't even been moved...I've never seen anything like that... ." Yukina put a comforting arm around her. Hiei glanced at the strange sleeping demon girl.

"Hiei, you were there after we blacked out, right?" asked Yusuke, bringing the fire youkai back to reality.

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"I fought the demon."

"Did you see Rhys at any time?"

"I was about to kill the demon when Rhys came. She finished the job for me," he said, carefully leaving out the part where Rhys saved his life.

"Did you see how she did it?"

"No, I had to look away. It was too bright." At least that was the truth.

"I guess Koenma was right, then," Yusuke said thoughtfully.

"About what, that demons would be attacking or that she would babysit us?" asked Kurama with a small grin, knowing both were true. He then glanced at the clock, which showed that it was 11:49. "Before we all fall asleep, I suggest we set up a watch."

"I'll keep watch the whole night, you can count on me!" declared Kuwabara, staring at Yukina.

"I don't think we should be that foolish," sneered Hiei, "We'll do it in shifts."

Kuwabara glared at Hiei. "I'll take the first shift, then!"

"I'll be second," offered Kurama.

Yusuke said guiltily, "I wish I could, but I didn't get a lotta sleep last night, so I'd probably fall asleep..."

There was a pause. "I guess I-I can do it, if no one else can," offered Yukina, to everyone's surprise. She looked terrified at the idea. 'I can't let her do that...' thought Hiei. He couldn't think of what could happen to her if she took the shift.

Luckily, Kurama spoke up, "I don't know if that's such a good idea. We don't want you getting kidnapped again, along with Rhys." Yukina nodded nervously, remembering the last time she had been kidnapped.

"I'll do it," Hiei spoke up.

"Okay, so it's Kuwabara, then me, and then Hiei. Shall we make it three hours each?" The two others nodded in agreement.

"Where are we sleeping?" asked Botan. Kurama thought for a moment. "I guess we can all sleep down here, since it's the biggest room in the house." No one commented, and he continued, "Then I'll go get some pillows and blankets."

"I'll help you," offered Botan, following Kurama quietly up the stairs.

- - - -

Rain tinkled softly on the roof as everyone settled warmly into their blankets. Kuwabara had somehow managed to grab a spot next to Yukina, much to Hiei's dismay. He reminded himself to keep a watch on them as well while on guard. Rhys hadn't moved from the couch, Kurama nearest to her on the floor with Botan. Yusuke slept by Botan and Kurama's feet. Hiei got a spot next to the window, where he could clearly see Rhys in the moonlight streaming in through the window blinds.

Good night's were called throughout the room and one by one, everyone except Kuwabara fell asleep. When three hour's time had gone by Kuwabara silently woke Kurama. Kuwabara instantly fell asleep next to Yukina and Kurama moved to the chair next to Rhys so that he would not be tempted to fall back asleep. Through the night he could hear the slightest sound and hear everyone's breathing. Keeping his ears alert for the slightest abnormal sound, he tried not to look at Rhys.

His eyes swept the room, but through the minutes his gaze slowly drifted back to her. He absentmindedly reached out and brushed a few wandering golden strands out of her face. Her skin looked even paler in the dim light, her lips redder and her eyes darker. Before he knew what he was doing, he had reached out and touched her cheek. It was cold, and she started to shiver at his touch.

Three hours passed and the chiming of the clock brought Kurama from his thoughts. His cheeks reddened when he realized that instead of watching for potential kidnappers, he had been watching Rhys. His eyes suddenly felt very heavy as he made his way to wake up Hiei. He hadn't realized he was this tired.

Hiei woke up with one shake of his shoulder, then gave Kurama a glare that clearly meant: 'Don't touch me.' Kurama shrugged it off and fell lazily into his now cold blankets, falling instantly asleep.

Hiei sat with his head resting against the wall opposite the window. The night was beginning to come to an end, the stars slowly disappearing. He glared at the remaining cluster of stars, cursing Kurama. He had been watching Kuwabara and Kurama while they were on guard - he wasn't fool enough to let Kuwabara keep watch himself. He hadn't been able to sleep, after all, and had mainly watched the stars. Then when it had been Kurama's shift...

Hiei was surprised at himself. 'Why am I so worried if Kurama likes Rhys or not? I don't know anything about her...' he thought. His brow wrinkled in confusion. He didn't know what to think anymore. He looked at her, and wondered how much longer she would sleep. The more he looked at her it seemed the scratches on her arms looked deeper and her bruises harsher. He flashed to her side, gently touching a particularly wide bruise on her arm causing a sleepy frown. Hiei tensed and pulled his hand away, the clock ringing the end of his second hour of watch.

He sat against the wall and stared at the pink clouds , watched as the first feeble rays of morning crossed the earth and brought warmth. Birds sang hellos to each other and the crisp, fresh scent of dew and the wet earth floated in the broken window. Hiei inhaled deeply and glanced casually at Kuwabara and Yukina.

As if on cue, Kuwabara's hand fell onto Yukina's as he moved onto his back. Pent up anger, at the teen and Kurama and something he couldn't name, swelled inside of him and he got up to kick Kuwabara's hand away - cut it off, if he had to. He stepped over Yukina and pushed Kuwabara's hand away with his foot. As he was walking back to the wall, he let his sheathed sword carelessly crash into the Spirit Detective's head, which was so thick he didn't notice a thing.

He tensed, sensing a demon nearby. Sure enough, one crept silently into the room and started for the couch. Hiei unsheathed his sword and quickly jumped next to him, killing him with a couple fast flash of his sword.

Something red-hot grazed his ear. He turned to find another demon summoning and tossing fireballs at him. Hiei disappeared in a flash, jumping behind the unsuspecting demon.

Thinking Hiei had gone, the attacking demon bent down to pick up Rhys when he heard 'Leave her alone' in a cold voice somewhere in his head. While he was confused, Hiei slashed his sword through the demon's heart and pulled it out again in mid-air, falling at the foot of the couch where Rhys' feet lay. The demon fell onto the couch, splattering blood everywhere.

Hiei wiped the blood off his sword and sheathed it, then turned quickly when he heard a startled gasp from behind him. Rhys sat upright on the couch, looking fearfully at the now dead demon laying on top of her.

When she saw Hiei she sank further into the couch, a scared and confused look in her bright orange eyes. Hiei silently moved towards her and she tucked her legs under herself and wrapped her arms around them. He drew closer and she shook with fear, wondering what he could want with her.

Her eyes followed him as he effortlessly lifted the demon and dropped it roughly atop the other dead demon, creating a pile. When he was finished he resumed his position against the wall. Rhys glanced around at the sleeping people, not sure of what to do.

Him staring at her didn't make her any more comfortable, either. She wanted to be alone. "Could I take a walk?"

"I'd have to go with you."

"Why?"

"I was told not to let you out of my sight."

"Oh." She sat on the cold floor and hugged her knees to herself. "Who was that demon that you killed?" Hiei merely shrugged. "Why did you kill him?"

"He was going to kidnap you."

Rhys was taken aback. He killed a demon? For her safety? Things like this only happened in her dreams. Maybe she was dreaming. She looked at the short demon. He certainly was attractive...

But before she could think anymore, he shattered her hopes. "It was my job," he stated simply, eyes now closed.

Rhys didn't know what to say and an awkward silence filled the room, broken only by the breathing of the people sleeping. "Is this someone's house?"

"Kurama's. He's the red-head." Rhys glanced at the sleeping form and smiled to herself. The blue haired girl sleeping next to him had moved very close to him in her sleep, and his arm was draped over her side.

Rhys glanced at Hiei, wondering if he had even slept that night. He didn't look tired, but bored. She searched her mind for something interesting to say, but came up with nothing. The minutes ticked by, neither finding anything to say to each other.

Hiei recalled something she had said earlier._ 'I...had nowhere else. They took me in.' _She must have been pretty desperate to have taken refuge with scum like that. He wanted to ask her about it, but glancing at her, he saw she had already curled up on the floor and fallen asleep again.

He wondered how much one person could sleep, but then remembered how weak she had been. She needed to gain back her strength. The least he could do was give her a comfortable place to rest. He picked her up the same way he had before and moved her back to the couch.

He had just made it back to the wall and closed his eyes when last minute in his shift ended and the clock rung seven times.

- - - -


	3. Memory's Lane Memories Slain

It seems we have run into a little problem, readers. There's this thing called "read and review". It helps me get feedback on whether or not you guys like the story and stuff like that. But, if I don't get any feedback, the story will stay sucky. You see how this works? Crescentmoon-cat knows how it works, thank you for taking the time to review! Now, after you read this chapter, let your mouse travel down to that pretty review button. Then, let your fingers loose and type me a nice message! It's really not that hard. Just tell me what you like or don't like and if you want me to change anything or even if you want to ask me anything.

Onward, readers!

**- - - -**

**Chapter Three**  
_**Memory's Lane; Memories Slain**_

- - - -

After a big breakfast, Rhys' strength returned fully and she could walk without her knees shaking. Kurama had insisted that Rhys change from her filthy rag dress into something of his mothers, helped by both Yukina and Botan.

Yusuke and Kuwabara had to go to school and their homes, so after giving brief good byes, Rhys followed the two girls up the stairs and into a bedroom. After going through some drawers, the two girl finally found an outfit small enough to fit Rhys - a white tank top and a faded pair of capris. They showed the kiyone where the bathroom and shower were and left her to bathe.

Rhys entered the room and immediately turned the hot water on and pulled off her dress. She looked at it in disgust before throwing it in the trashcan. Stepping into the warm water, she let it surround her and wash all the dirt away.

She analyzed the self-inflicted damage to her body, wondering if anyone had even noticed. If they did, they hadn't said anything. She spied a razor and held it tightly, feeling how nicely it fit into the groove of her hand. She jumped when she heard loud laughter drift to her ears.

That laugh...it reminded her of her sister, Stahr...Rhys could remember her so well. Stahr was the best sister to her - always giving and caring and loving Rhys. Stahr never asked for anything in return, but Rhys tried to be just as good to her.

Stahr didn't deserve to die the way she did. Rhys hated herself for it. It was her fault. Rhys was Stahr's big sister. She was supposed to protect her. But instead, she had killed her.

She remembered that one day in particular. That cursed day that haunted her nightmares and thoughts...and probably would forever...

_-- Flashback --_

Rhys woke from a deep sleep, rubbing her eyes. Hadn't there been someone tapping her shoulder? She looked to her side and spied her sister's sock on the floor. It must had been her, trying to wake her. Where had she run off to? Rhys couldn't sense her anywhere.

Rhys stiffened, her eyes drifting over a small pile of ashes. Her heart skipped a beat. "No..." she said, panic flooding her heart. Tears leaked from her eyes, mixing with the soft ash as she knelt in front of it, running her fingers through it.

Rhys could hear her father coming, but she didn't care. Let him see what she had done. There was no humanly possible way he could make her hurt more. He came storming into the room. "Who screamed?" he asked gruffly, ignoring his daughter's tear-streaked cheeks and sniffles.

"I don't know, I didn't hear anything..." she trailed off, looking at the ashes.

"Stupid bitch, I know a scream when I hear one!" He grabbed Rhys by her hair and dragged her to a standing position, her head leaning in the direction he was pulling. "Now tell me, who screamed?"

It took all her concentration not to whimper in pain, and if she opened her mouth she would start sobbing uncontrollably. "ANSWER ME!" he shouted, red in the face. His hand came down hard, connected with her cheek, and left a burning hand mark.

Her eyes watered with pain but still no sound escaped from her lips. He was about to do something worse when he suddenly let her hair go. She fell back on the floor, trembling, and watched as he circled the pile of ashes like a vulture. "What is this!"

"I-I-I..."

"WHAT DID YOU DO!"

"It was an accident, I swear! I was sleeping - and she - I mean, I think - she t-tried to wake m-me up...and..." she stuttered, not daring to look up at him.

He picked up a handful of ash, all which remained of her little sister. He was about to scream something else when his wife ran into the room, having heard the shouting. "What is going on here?" she demanded, seeing Rhys, her father, and the pile of ashes.

_'Mom,'_ Rhys thought pleadingly, searching her mother with her fearful eyes. Her father smiled sadistically. "Your daughter has killed Stahr."

The words were like torpedoes, shot from his mouth to her ears, and exploding on contact. "W-What?" she whispered, eyes wide and glancing between the ashes and Rhys.

Rhys could only nod, tears welling in her eyes, threatening to spill over. 'No,' she told herself. 'Don't cry.' She would not give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry. "Yes," Rhys said softly. "But it was an accident."

"ACCIDENT MY ASS!" he cried, and proceeded to punch, hit, and kick any place he could reach of Rhys, bruising and scarring her to no end. All Rhys' mother could do was turn her back and exit out the front door, grief tearing at her heart. Rhys watched her mother leave through smarting eyes, thinking, _'Why, mom?'_

_-- End Flashback --_

As the memory played through her mind, Rhys found herself singing through her tears, cutting along to the song's rhythm. She sang and remembered, her tears flowing silently and mixing with her blood on the shower's floor. She cut one last time, her tears subsiding to an occasional sniff. She sighed in relief when she felt the sharp pain in her leg from where she had pushed the razor the hardest to her skin - relief that she could feel, she was alive. 

She stepped out of the shower, proud of the self-inflicted pain burning her leg, and wrapped a towel around herself. She was about to pull the shirt on when she stopped and looked forward. Her reflection stared back at her with wide, orange eyes.

_'I'm so ugly,' _Rhys thought sadly. Her nose was way too big. And her eyes - what an ugly color orange. Like the rust on an old sword. She absentmindedly pulled on her clothes, staring into the mirror and finding fault with just about every part of her body.

Meanwhile outside, Hiei sat on a tree branch just outside the bathroom window. He wrapped the white bandana back around his forehead, once more hiding his Jagan. He lounged back into the branch and sighed subconsciously, watching Rhys' silhouette on the drawn shade.

He had easily entered her mind and listened to her thoughts while she showered. He was...surprised, to say the least. He closed his eyes, hands behind his head. Who knew that one little demon could carry so much depression and anger in one mind?

He wondered if Koenma had known about her past, finally deciding that if the toddler had any more information he would have shared it. Right? Or perhaps he wanted to team to find out for themselves? Or...was it possible he didn't know at all?

"Hiei? What are you doing out there?" Rhys interrupted his thoughts. She stood, fully clothed, behind the now open window.

He hid his surprise behind his usual, emotionless mask and opened one eye to look at her. Her damp hair was neatly combed and pulled into a high ponytail away from her face and her eyes searched him for an answer.

"I told you, I was told not to let you out of my sight."

"I can't even shower alone? What demon in their right mind would attack me while I'm in the shower?"

It was then Hiei noticed two fresh cuts on her arm. "Hn. A smart one. You'd be vulnerable." He jumped, disappearing from the branch and reappeared in seconds on the windowsill.

Rhys jumped back, hand flying to her chest and eyes wide. Before she could say anything he had stepped down from the sill. He roughly grabbed her left wrist and pulled her closer to him, examining her arm.

She tried to pull away from his tight grip, twisting and squirming. "What are you doing?"

He pointed to the fresh cuts. "Where did these come from?"

"I..they've been there..."

He looked into her fearful eyes. "They weren't there this morning."

"How do you know?" He just stared at her while she looked away from him. He tightened his hold on her.

"I'll find out even if you don't tell me."

'Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry,' she chanted to herself. The tears she had felt welling up inside her eyes left. "How?" she asked softly, recalling the way he had killed two demons when they had first met.

"I have my ways."

She didn't want to tell him how the wounds appeared. She couldn't tell him. He would tell everyone in the house and they would all hate her. "I...can't tell you," she whispered to the floor. He dropped her arm and jumped out the window.

She heard his feet hit the earth seconds later, but kept her eyes on the floor. What did he mean, he had his ways? Would he hurt her to make her talk? It wouldn't matter if he did. She was certainly no stranger to pain.

She looked at her wrist where Hiei had held it. She touched the red fingerprints gingerly, wondering if he even knew he had hurt her. If he even cared.

He certainly seemed to care about where her scratches came from. But maybe that was because if a demon had attacked her it would be his fault. Yes, that was probably it. It had nothing to do with her, or her well-being.

- - - -

Hiei's feet hit the ground and he stalked off into the forest behind Kurama's house. He spotted the fox walking into the forest and followed him, wondering where he was going.

Before long, Kurama glanced behind himself. "Why are you following me, Hiei?"

Hiei stayed balancing on the tree branch, his mind working furiously. What was he going to say? That he had invaded Rhys' minds and that they had a depressed, self-abusive demon on their hands? Well, that was the truth... He jumped to the ground in front of Kurama and folded his arms.

"Well?" prompted the red head.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm just taking a walk. Care to join me?"

"Hn."

The two walked side by side, not talking. Kurama admired the scenery, but Hiei stared blankly ahead. Why couldn't he just tell Kurama about Rhys? Why was it so hard? He stopped walking. "Rhys cuts herself," he blurted out.

Kurama halted and turned to look at Hiei with disbelieving eyes. "What?"

Hiei stared straight ahead. "There are two more cuts on her arm that were not there this morning."

"But that doesn't mean - "

Hiei looked hard into Kurama's eyes. "Yes, it does."

"Are you sure?"

"I entered her mind when she was in the shower." Kurama raised an eyebrow. Hiei threw a glare at him. "She killed her little sister." Kurama immediately looked serious again. "She claims it was an accident."

"But how...?"

"The same way she killed those demons yesterday."

"I see," said the fox slowly. Hiei waited for Kurama to say something else, but he had closed his green eyes and sighed deeply. Hiei scowled and turned to walk away.

"Wait," called Kurama. "Don't say anything to her. I'll talk to her."

"Hn." Hiei disappeared from sight and Kurama hurried to the house.

- - - -

A knock sounded at the bathroom door. Rhys glared at her reflection one last time, then opened the door. She found Botan's happy face staring down at her. "Oh, Rhys, that looks lovely on you! Yukina, come look!"

Rhys forced a smile, wishing they would stop looking at her. She endured all she could of the two's squabbling over her before she could escape. "Thank you both so much," she said, stepping slowly towards the door, "but if you'll excuse me, I really do need a drink now."

With that she left them and headed down the stairs. She didn't really want a drink, but she might as well go to the kitchen and get one.

What she really needed was a place to be alone - and the bathroom was obviously out. She wondered if she would ever find a place to be alone in the house while entering the kitchen. To her relief it was empty.

She poured herself a glass of juice and nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a smooth voice behind her ask, "Can you pour me a glass?"

Whirling around, she found a tall red head holding out a glass. He laughed softly. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew I was there. I didn't mean to scare you."

She took Kurama's glass and gave him a smile. "It's okay. How much do you want?"

"Half way is good, thank you." He took his glass back and sipped it, placing it on the table.

Over the rim of her glass, Rhys could see him looking at her arm. He saw the scratches - and the fingerprints. "That looks like it hurts."

She held her glass with both hands. "What?"

"Your arm. May I...?" He reached out to her arm, careful not to touch her wrist and the finger marks, but just above them. _'These cuts...they're to clean for a demon to have just carelessly scratched her...Hiei's right...'_

She pulled away after a moment, looking at the floor. "They don't hurt that much."

She took another sip of her juice and heard Kurama sigh. "I was just talking with Hiei - " Rhys choked in the middle of a sip. What had that little demon said? " - and we're both worried about your injuries." She placed her glass on the table and folded her arms across her chest. "If there's someone - or thing - out to get you, it's our jobs to stop it and help you."

_'It was my job...It was my job...It was my job,' _echoed around the kiyone's head once more as her coughs subsided. _'They don't care about me at all,' _she thought bitterly._ 'All they care about is doing theirs jobs right and not getting punished if they do anything wrong.' _

She didn't say anything, but stared into his piercing eyes. "Rhys..." he pleaded. He looked so sincere...but she couldn't let him fool her. She wouldn't let him.

She pushed past him and hurried outside. As she flew past him he tried to catch her arm. He misjudged her speed completely, though, and was left with a slamming door and a handful of air. He closed his eyes and dropped his hand.

"Don't say anything, Hiei," he ordered, not even opening his eyes and sinking into a chair. Hiei folded his arms and moved to stand rigidly in the center of the room.

Kurama slowly opened his eyes, seeing the tense fire demon before him. "Would you mind bringing her back? We can't leave her alone, especially not now..."

But Hiei was already jumping out the window and had disappeared into the forest. Kurama glanced at the windowpane and smiled sadly at his reflection. He hoped his friend wouldn't do anything stupid.

- - - -


	4. Shocked By the Unknown Powers

- - - -

**Chapter Four  
_Shocked By the Unknown Powers_  
**

- - - -

_'I want out of this place.'_ Rhys was running faster than she ever had in her life. At least when she had been staying with the demons they hadn't been prying into her thoughts and pretending to be worried about her.

A nasty voice in the back of her head spoke up. _'So you'd rather stay with low-life scum than with people Lord Koenma sent after you?'_ She stopped running, gasping for air and clutching her side.

Night was beginning to fall, long shadows created by the trees swaying in the wind. She leant her back against a gnarled, old oak tree and closed her eyes. She didn't know what she wanted anymore. _'It's better if I leave, I guess. Then I won't be such a burden.'_

As she caught her breath, the air began to feel gradually colder and smelled of rain. Rhys wrapped her arms around herself. _'Good.' _A storm would match her mood perfectly.

Fat raindrops splattered the ground and she stepped out from the shelter of the trees, her face turned upward. A sigh escaped her lips as she felt the rain fall against her face.

She loved the rain. She liked it even more when it was dark and raining. The darkness covered her tears and the rain carried them away. She forgot her pain and stood in the clearing smiling. The rain washed over her, soaking her thoroughly and making her shiver in the cold, but she didn't care.

She shook her ponytail out and ran her fingers through her hair. It was really getting to be long. Perhaps she should cut it. She grabbed the knife she had stolen from the kitchen and admired its blade. A flash of lightning made it glint. Bunching her hair in her hand, she was about to chop it off when the knife was wrenched from her hand.

"What do you think you're doing?" a cold voice asked.

She whirled around and gasped. "Hiei!"

He eyed her coldly, twirling the knife with his fingers. "Trying to hurt yourself more?"

"I - No! What do you care, anyway?" She turned away from him and stalked to the shadows of the trees.

'_This isn't going to be easy,'_ thought the fire demon grudgingly. Rhys had already climbed to the middle branches of a tree and was still going. He watched her progress, surprised at her speed. Then she disappeared in the dense foliage, but a flash of lightning showed she had stopped somewhere near the top.

Thunder sounded distantly and Hiei was a tinge worried. That tree looked like the tallest around - and lightning struck the highest point in any area. This was getting dangerous. He jumped nimbly and landed neatly on the branch underneath the one she stood on.

Rhys glared down at him and went to climb higher, but he was on her branch in a flash and held her arm.

"Leave me alone!" she cried, trying to wrench her hand from his grasp. A flash of lightning lit the scene and Hiei suddenly dropped her arm as if she had shocked him. Rhys' eyes widened as she saw her arm start to glow. _'What did I just do?'_

She felt electricity running through her whole body, but it didn't hurt her. Instead it seemed to hurt Hiei. His eyes were also wide, and he looked...scared? She had never seen him like this before, and it made her uneasy.

Another lightning bolt flashed and struck the tree next to them, burning it. Rhys gave a little scream, but Hiei stood as if in shock. She panicked. _'What did I do! Oh gods, help me someone...'_ She waved her hand in front of Hiei's face, but to no avail. She gripped his shoulder and gasped. As soon as she had touched him her hand sparked and glowed bright gold. Tiny lightning bolts sparked into his shoulder and she pulled her hand away. Hiei blinked, almost losing his balance. He looked away from Rhys.

"I'm sorry..." she said. He didn't say anything. She looked away from him and watched the lightning hit another tree. Thunder rumbled in the distance and stray raindrops fell beneath the leaves. Something bad was about to happen. She could feel it in the air.

Lightning struck the branch below them and barely missed hitting Rhys. She didn't flinch, but Hiei grabbed her around the middle and moved her closer to him so that her hair tickled his nose.

She was about to pull away and object when she heard a giant crack. She flinched and lashed her head around to see the part of the branch she had just been standing on fall to the ground and shatter to pieces.

Her knees gave out and she sank into him weakly, staring at the shattered branch on the ground. He glanced down at the top of her head, feeling her shake with fear. She raised her head to look into his eyes, trying to thank him. But she found the words eluded her as she continued to stare into those beautifully crimson orbs and time itself seemed to stop.

A few moments passed before she realized how close they were and pulled away, blushing furiously. "I-I'm...I didn't...sorry..." she stammered, unable to look at him. She was backing away, forgetting that the branch ended just inches away from her feet.

She took one last step back when she realized there was no more branch to stand on, but it was too late. Rhys was falling, and fast. Her body tensed naturally and she closed her eyes, prepared for the fall that she hoped would kill her. 

But instead of being crushed into wet earth, she felt soft, strong arms cushion her fall. Her opened eyes met with troubled dark ones. Hiei. She might have known. He couldn't let her die, not while he was watching. He'd be blamed and punished.

She closed her eyes again, feeling tears welling up inside of them. _'Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry...damnit, you can't let him see you cry...' _Too late. Tears leaked from her eyes like watery beads of betrayal.

She felt his feet meet the ground and his gaze on her face. "Please...just don't look at me," she whispered pleadingly. He dropped her feet and helped her get her balance back, his arm around her shoulders.

She pulled away and stood with her back to him, ashamed and feeling horribly weak. He turned his face up to the sky, where millions of stars shone brightly next to the moon. The storm was over. So were Rhys' tears. She sniffed and turned to face him, catching him staring at the sky.

He looked so calm...like what just happened meant nothing. It annoyed her to no end. She opened her mouth to yell at him, but she couldn't find any words.

Instead, he turned to her. "Why are you so afraid?"

"Of what?" she choked out, still annoyed at him.

"Afraid of people finding out your little secret?"

_'My secret? Does he mean...'_ "What secret?" Rhys stared into his eyes, determined not to give anything away.

He stared at her with equal coldness and replied, "That you cut yourself."

Inside she panicked. Her mind was screaming at her to run, but she knew it was hopeless. That and she couldn't seem to move her legs. "What are you - I don't - that's stupid - why would anyone want to cut themselves?"

"You tell me."

She hated the casual way he spoke about it. He didn't care. No one cared. She wished she had her knife back, but it lay yards away from her reach. She just wanted to stop hurting. To stop the pain.

Her eyes left his face and traveled to the ground. "I don't know."

Now he was annoyed and his hand rested on his sword hilt. "You're telling me that you hurt yourself for the fun of it? If that's the case, then I can save you the fun part and kill you now - if that's what you really want."

Her head jerked up to stare into his face. His eyes were like dark icicles, trying to drill through her wall of defiance. He didn't understand at all. She wanted him to go away. Leave her. Forever. Let her live in peace with her knife.

"You don't care. Leave me alone," she replied softly, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Anger boiled up inside of him, showed only in his burning eyes. He was about to say more when he heard approaching footsteps. He cocked his head to one side. Kurama and Yusuke appeared to his left.

Kurama took one look at the crying Rhys and the angry Hiei and sighed softly. Yusuke looked between Rhys and Hiei, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Are you all right?" questioned Kurama.

"Never better," Hiei said through clenched teeth. He had disappeared in a flash, leaving the three behind.

"Yusuke? Could you take Rhys back to the house?"

"What? Oh, sure thing."

"Thank you." Kurama walked off into the direction Hiei disappeared and Yusuke approached the girl.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Never better." She smiled to prove her point. Out of curiosity, she asked him a sudden question. "What do you know about Hiei?"

- - - -

It only took Kurama ten minutes to find Hiei lounging in a tree.

"Hiei," he called up to him. Hiei turned his head away.

Kurama stood near the trunk of the tree. "Come down here."

Silence.

"Please?"

More silence.

"Hiei, I don't want to, but I can resort to blackmail if you don't come down here right now."

He didn't say anything but climbed down a couple branches. "Hn."

"Hiei what happened with Rhys? I told you to bring her back to the house."

"I was going to."

"When, tomorrow?"

"I was trying to get an answer out of her, but you came when she was about to tell me something!" Hiei was annoyed and didn't care that he was lying.

"I'm sorry about that, but it got dark and I got worried."

"Hn." Hiei jumped to the ground.

"What took you so long?"

"She climbed a tree and wouldn't come down."

Kurama smirked. "And that's too much for you to handle?"

"She used her powers on me."

"What powers?"

"She absorbed the lightning from the air into her arm and shocked me."

Kurama wrinkled his brow, in deep thought. Then a look of realization came across his face. "Now I understand. I believe that attack she used while she was sleeping was also an electrical attack."

Hiei looked away, uneasy. "What is it?" asked Kurama.

"I don't think she knows what her powers are. When she attacked me she acted as if she didn't know what she was doing."

"Perhaps she didn't. But why would Koenma send us a demon who didn't know she was a demon?"

Hiei shrugged. He didn't want to think about it anymore. He wanted to sleep.

Kurama noticed Hiei's attention fading. "Will you be sleeping outside tonight?" Hiei nodded. "I have to get back to the house. Good night." Hiei watched Kurama disappear into the trees and settled into the branches of a sturdy tree.

- - - -

Yusuke looked away from Rhys uneasily. "I shouldn't be the one to tell you."

They were walking back to the house, the moon lighting their way. Rhys didn't say anything else.

"All I can say is that he had a...rough childhood." She thought that over. Was that why he was so cold and misunderstanding? "The rest you have to ask him about."

She shook her head. "He wouldn't tell me."

"Yea, you're probably right." chuckled Yusuke. "That's just the way he is. And it annoys the hell outta me."

By this time they had reached the house. Lights were on and as they approached the back door it swung open forcefully. "Oh, you're back! Are you okay? Where's Kurama and Hiei?" called a bubbly voice.

Yusuke gave a tiny cringe at the sound of her voice. "She annoys me, too," he muttered to a smiling Rhys. "We're fine, Botan. And the others are still back there," he said, pointing behind him to the trees.

Botan ushered them inside and into the living room. There they found Kuwabara and Yukina sitting close together on the couch, Yukina listening patiently to Kuwabara ranting about the time he had killed another 'dangerous' demon.

Botan left Yusuke there and brought Rhys upstairs to change from her wet clothes. Minutes later the two girls descended the stairs, Rhys now dressed in long jeans and a soft orange shirt.

They heard the back door closed gently. "Kurama's back!" Botan cried happily, abandoning Rhys and hurrying to meet him. Rhys descended the stairs slowly, knowing Hiei was probably with him. She didn't want to deal with him now. Her head peeked around the corner.

Where was he? She pulled her head back and meandered into the living room. There she found Yusuke and Kuwabara playing a video game. She silently sat on the couch with Yukina and watched.

"Damn you, Urameshi!" Kuwabara threw down the game control as he lost yet again. "Best 5 out of 7!"

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "I'm still going to beat you. But if you really want to drag your humiliation out - "

"Shut up and play!" A smile tugged at Rhys' lips. The two fell silent, engrossed in their game.

Voices drifted into the room. It sounded like Kurama and Botan. Rhys cocked her head, straining to hear the words, but finally gave up. The game was too loud.

The ferry girl waltzed into the room a couple minutes later, looking a bit red and smiling broadly. She sat on next to Rhys and sighed deeply. Yusuke turned away from the screen. "What's up with you?"

Botan looked dreamily into space. "Nothing," she said airily.

"Where's Hiei when you need him?" Yusuke grumbled. That reminded Rhys - where was he? Her thoughts were interrupted by loud yelling from Kuwabara. He had finally beat Yusuke.

- - - -

Rhys slept uneasily that night. A few hours of sleep would pass and she would wake up in a cold sweat. A dream would come sometimes, but she was too tired to remember it and fell asleep again, only to repeat the cycle.

She finally dragged herself up with the late morning sun streaming onto her face. The smell of breakfast still lingered in the air, making her stomach rumble. Her feet led her to the kitchen, but once there she halted in the doorway. She didn't want to eat anything. That was strange. Maybe she had gotten used to not eating in the mornings...

Yells sounded from outside. Rhys forgot her problem and hurried to the backyard, where the yelling was coming from.

Yusuke and Kuwabara faced each other, screaming their lungs out. Kurama stood to the side looking slightly amused at the two fighting teens. Her eyes scanned the area, finally finding Hiei staring down at the scene from the branches of a tree. 'What was he, raised in a tree?' Rhys thought mockingly as she made her way to Kurama, but she couldn't help but feel uneasy at the thought of having to talk to Hiei again.

Kurama smiled as the kiyone approached him. "Good morning."

She nodded. "Good morning." Then she looked at the two Spirit Detectives. "What are they doing?"

The red head looked to where she did and sighed. "They're supposed to be training, but all they can do is yell at each other. Neither wants to make the first move." Rhys smiled slightly.

"It kind of reminds me of some people." Her grin disappeared and she glanced sharply up at him. What did that mean? He didn't return her look, but instead looked towards the back door. Botan emerged from it with Yukina not far behind, both looking very happy for some reason.

Kuwabara had just been about to scream something back at Yusuke when he whirled around, smiling broadly. "Hi, Yukina!"

Yukina gave him a sweet smile in return. "Hello, Kazuma."

Kuwabara faced Yusuke again. "I'm gonna pound your face in, you hear!"

"About time," sneered Hiei. Rhys jumped when she heard his voice and realized he was standing right next to her. He didn't even look at her, much less act like he knew she was there.

Meanwhile, Kuwabara had started throwing punches, which Yusuke easily avoided. "Stay still, dammit!" Yusuke just dodged and smirked while Kurama shook his head.

Suddenly Kuwabara stopped fighting. He stood still even while Yusuke came running at him. "Wait, Urameshi. There's something weird going on here."

Yusuke dropped his fist and stood in front of Kuwabara. "What's up?"

"Someone's coming."

"Wanna tell us who?"

"Shut up! I'm trying to concentrate!" Yusuke smirked, knowing Kuwabara really didn't know. Hiei, Kurama and Botan approached the two teens, Yukina and Rhys staying on the side. All eyes were on Kuwabara.

"I think it's another demon," said he finally. "He's pretty strong, but his spirit energy is doing something really strange. It's - "

Kuwabara was cut off by a muffled scream from behind them and they all turned to where Rhys and Yukina stood. "It's coming and going? It's called the Spirit Jump. Really comes in handy when I want to kill other demons - and when I want to kidnap some," said the muscular, red-eyed demon holding a terrified Yukina. Another taller demon, who shared his accomplice's piercing red eyes, held a struggling Rhys.

They both chuckled at the team's baffled expressions and disappeared before even Hiei could reach them.

- - - -


	5. The Unwilling Prisoners

Lalala. I finally decided to update. I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. Here you go! 

- - - -

**Chapter Five  
_The Unwilling Prisoners_ **

- - - -

"You **WHAT**!" yelled the small toddler, standing on his chair. The gang had just finished explaining to Koenma how Rhys and Yukina were kidnapped.

"We lost her, sir," said Kurama, not daring to look him in the eye.

"They just appeared out of nowhere!" cried Yusuke indignantly.

"And they took Yukina!" added Kuwabara, looking extremely angry. Hiei narrowed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest, standing to the side of the room.

"As I've heard." Koenma said calmly before yelling, "So why are you here telling me about it! Go out and FIND HER!"

"We need to know who took her first. Do you know of any demons who use the Spirit Jump attack?" coolly replied Kurama, as always the voice of reason.

Koenma groaned. "Too many. Do you have anything else to go on?"

"Not really." Koenma sighed and sat back in his chair. The toddler glared around the room but was only met by a stony silence.

"Are you sure you don't know what her powers are?" asked Kurama.

Koenma looked confused at the sudden change, but recovered and answered, "There's two I know of, but one she can only use while asleep. The other you may of heard of. It's called the Sword of Flaming Light and is similar to Kuwabara's Spirit Sword, except she has to transfer her Spirit Energy into any kind of sword or knife. And it's more powerful."

Kurama's eyes widened slightly and he glanced at Hiei. The little youkai hadn't physically shown any sign of caring, but in his eyes - they were darker and tinted worry. Hiei returned Kurama's look, knowing he was thinking the same thing.

Koenma noticed and folded his arms. "Is there something I should know?"

Kurama started to say something but was cut off by Hiei. "No." Everyone turned to look at him, getting a glare in return.

George rushed in suddenly, breaking the tense silence with, "Koenma, sir, you must sign these immediately." At the glare he received from the toddler, he stopped in front of his desk. "Am I interrupting something, sir?"

"Yes!" Koenma sighed. "But it doesn't matter now. You guys, go look for Rhys," he said to the gang. With a glare from Kuwabara he added, "And Yukina, too."

- - - -

Back at Kurama's house, they all sat again in the living room, trying to form a plan.

"Can anyone sense her?" Yusuke asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"Stop asking, Urameshi! We've told you before, that stupid Spirit Jump is in the way!" answered Kuwabara.

"Well do you have any better ideas!"

"I can't think when you're talking!"

"BOYS! Settle down!" interrupted Botan, who sat next to Kurama. "None of us can think while you're fighting." The two teenagers shut their mouths, glaring at each other now and then.

Hiei suddenly gasped, drawing everyone's attention. He was staring at his arm where deep scratches had appeared.

"Hiei, what happened?" asked Kurama, rising to stand in front of the fire youkai.

"It's nothing," he answered, trying to lock his arm at his side.

But Kurama overpowered him and surveyed his arm. "Where did these come from?"

Hiei did his best to shrug, but it was hard while the kitsune was holding his arm. "They just appeared."

"What do you mean, they just appeared?" called Yusuke from behind them.

"I mean just that. I don't know how they got there." The wounds were dripping blood all over the carpet and Kurama glanced down at it. "Go into the kitchen and clean that up," instructed the fox. The fire demon ignored him and instead took to licking his wounds.

While Hiei was occupied, Kuwabara asked, "Where d'you think those cuts came from?"

Through the beginnings of another spat between Yusuke and Kuwabara, Hiei spoke in Kurama's head. _'Fox. She's hurting herself again.'_ Kurama shot the short fire demon a quizzical glance, but Hiei just looked out the window, his arm still dripping blood.

Without warning, Hiei fell to his knees, eyes open wide and breathing hard. Kurama, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan were at his side in seconds. "Hiei! What's wrong!"

"Fire...burning..." were all Hiei could choke out, the words burning his throat. A picture of a man standing in front of him, laughing evilly, played in front of his eyes.

Kurama reached out a hand to steady his shaking friend but immediately pulled it away. It seemed Hiei was, indeed, burning.

But then as soon as it had come, the burning sensation left the fire youkai. He fell onto his hands and knees, heart pounding. "I know where she is."

- - - -

A cold floor met Yukina as she was roughly set down. Her blindfold and gag were removed to reveal a dingy room resembling a bedroom. Behind her, the door closed and was locked. Yukina sat gently on the bed, tear gems falling fast.

Her blurry eyes surveyed the room. Two boarded windows. One wooden door. Cracks in the walls and floors and ceiling. She put her face in her hands, tears _clack_ing to the floor.

- - - -

Rhys was flung into a room similar to Yukina's, except there was only one barred window near the cracked ceiling. Her restraints were removed and she heard a lock click into place.

There was a bed in the corner, which she sat on to ponder. She wondered where Yukina had been taken. Was she hurt? Why had Yukina been kidnapped with her? She didn't do anything. _'It's my fault…all I ever do is cause pain.'_ But at least she knew Kurama, Hiei, Kuwabara, and Yusuke would have to come rescue them both.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a demon carrying a tray walked through the wall. Rhys started, making sure she wasn't going insane by replaying the image in her mind. Yes, he had come in through the wall.

She didn't look at him as he moved towards her and dropped the tray loudly at her feet. The kiyone made a face at the thick brown soup in front of her, wrinkling her nose when she smelled it. It was a good thing she still didn't want to eat anything.

The demon smirked. "Better get used to it. It's all you're getting." Her bright orange eyes shone fiercely at his red ones, but her glare didn't make him falter. "I'll be back for you later. Boss wants to see you." With that he disappeared through the wall and silence graced Rhys' ears.

She pushed the tray away with her foot and pulled out the knife she had smuggled from Kurama's kitchen. Beaded red lines quickly appeared, making her feel better. Each drop of blood falling from her arm was a drop of pain being released. She felt worlds better after a few cuts and hid the knife for future use.

There was a small pool of blood from her arm on the cement floor. She squeezed more blood into it, watching the way the puddle expanded and rippled with every new drop. She had never lost that much blood before...

_And she liked it…_

Heavy footsteps pounded past her door and she heard loud voices. Through the commotion she heard a high-pitched scream. Yukina?

Rhys felt her stomach flutter. She was never the one for fighting, whether she could see it or not. She wanted to drown out the commotion, but couldn't allow herself to. She had to help Yukina. Rhys took the knife from its hiding place and used it to set lock free and took a step into the doorway.

But before she could go anywhere, her skin instantly felt like it was being burned from the inside out. She cried out in pain and tried to step back, but she was frozen in the doorway.

The same demon that had delivered her tray stepped in front of her, laughing evilly. She tried to attack him, but even glaring made the burn worse.

"Baka onna. Don't struggle." She stopped moving around and the burning died down slightly. She looked at him with cautious eyes, wondering why he had helped her. "I don't know how you unlocked the door, but it's good we put up extra protection. Or else we might have lost you." He reached out and held her chin in his hand.

She did her best to glare with the pain watering in her eyes. "Get. Away. From me," she managed to choke out, the words like smoke in her throat and making it hard to breathe.

He only chuckled, but dropped his hand. "You're just as stubborn as your father." With that he left, leaving Rhys wondering how he knew her father.

The demons in Yukina's room suddenly ran out, glancing over their shoulders as if something were chasing them. Blasts of ice ricocheted off the wall and went the same way as the demons.

Rhys' head felt like it was exploding and she forgot where she was. The room swam in front of her eyes, making her feel nauseas before everything went black.

- - - -

"Rhys!" cried Yukina, rushing towards the doorway holding the girl.

Rhys didn't move towards them; She didn't move at all. Her eyes were shut and she was slouched over as if ready to fall at any second. There was blood dripping onto the floor from deep cuts on her arm, the red liquid standing out on her deathly pale skin. Her arm...the cuts were exactly where Hiei's were...and his were still bleeding as Rhys' were.

"Don't touch her," warned Hiei. He had a nagging suspicion that her skin would feel like it was burning.

Kurama quickly turned on his heal, rose whip colliding with something and breaking it in mid air. Botan gasped. At the end of the hallway stood a stout man in a business suit with two strong but dumb looking demons on either side of him. The man in the suit had the eyes like rubies gleaming in the sun.

The man made a hand motion to the demon on his left, who leapt in front of Kurama with the grace of a cat. "Stand back guys," growled Kuwabara. "Let me handle this one." The others stepped back, knowing how Kuwabara got when he was determined - and fighting in front of Yukina. Sure enough, with a few clever strikes of his Spirit Sword, the demon was a bloody mess on the floor.

Once the first fight was over, the man in the business suit didn't look at all nervous. The remaining demon next to him leapt into battle, bearing his fangs and whipping around his tail murderously.

"Watch out for his tail!" cried out Botan, noting how it was covered in pointy spikes, but it was too late. A spike caught in Kuwabara's shirt, tearing it and grazing the skin.

"Is that all you got?" asked Kuwabara with a mocking, cocky grin.

The man laughed coldly. "I think that'll be more than enough for you."

"Whudd'ya mean? It's only a little scratch!"

"Yes, but when you add in the poison dipped on the spike, it makes 'only a little scratch' deadly."

Kuwabara stared at him with defiant eyes. "Poison? That's all you got? You're stupid poison isn't enough to - " He fell unconscious, the promised poison already taking its toll. Yusuke caught him and laid him on the ground, glaring at the man.

"Kazuma!" Yukina rushed over to him, hands already glowing for healing. Kurama took over his fight and easily won it, slashing the demon to pieces with his rose whip. The man in the business suit showed no signs of nervousness.

Instead, he snapped his fingers. Rhys immediately jerked her head up, wide awake. The burning sensation was gone and she found she could move again. She stepped out of the doorway, afraid she might get stuck again, and ran to Yusuke, Botan, Kurama, Hiei, Kuwabara (healed now), and Yukina, and noticed them all looking at her.

She took one look at the man in the business suit and fear crept across her face. "No..." she whispered, creeping closer the security of being close to the people she trusted. The man was grinning sweetly in a sickening way.

Yusuke started, "Rhys? What's going - " before he was cut off by the man calling to Rhys.

"Rhys, dear, come here, don't you remember me?"

Hiei growled and glared at the man, unsheathing his sword. "Leave her alone."

"Quiet, boy," he said coldly. "Don't stick your nose in places it doesn't belong."

Hiei's eyes burned with anger at the notion of being called 'Boy' while he took a menacing step towards the man, sword at the ready. He was about to fire an icy remark back when a tugging at his sleeve directed his attention. Rhys had soundlessly moved beside him and was now clutching the fire demon's sleeve, looking at Hiei in a sadly pleading way.

"Please don't," she whispered. Hiei lowered his katana.

The man laughed from across the room. "Ada girl. You always did want to protect even those who hurt you - "

"Shut up!" she cried defiantly, anger burning in her cheeks. "I-I'm not protecting you!"

"Of course you aren't. But just remember - 'Mommy dearest' isn't around to save you anymore."

"What did you do to her?" Fear edged into Rhys' voice, making it tremble and crack. Her eyes filled with tears that she wouldn't allow to spill over.

"The same thing I would have done to you, if you stayed around long enough. But you ran away before I could get my hands on you…"

"Hiei," she whispered under the ring of the man's voice, staring at the ground. "Kill him. Now. Please."

Before Hiei could move, the man called out to Rhys one last time. "Rhys, dear, you wouldn't want to kill your father, now would you?"

- - - -


	6. She Sleeps

- - - -

**Chapter Six  
_She Sleeps_**

- - - -

"Will those be your last words?" asked Hiei sourly.

The man just cackled at him coldly. "I told you already, boy, stay out of this. That is your last warning." Shifting his attention back to his daughter, he asked, "Well? Do you want to kill me, Rhys?"

Without taking her eyes off her father she nodded solemnly, hatred coursing through her whole body. She had never felt this way before - this mad. Power, yes that was it. She felt power. She flew at him, hands ready to tear at any skin she could reach of him...

…But she never made it. It was as if he was waiting for her to attack, make the first move. Once she had stepped towards him, he reached a hand into his pocket, pulling out a spike - a spike strongly resembling the one that had struck Kuwabara. One easy toss at his on-coming daughter and she was a crumpled heap on the floor, not moving.

Hiei leapt forward in less than milliseconds, feeling madder than he ever had in his life. He ripped off his cloak, covering Rhys' fallen form, and became a shadow, leaping to every corner of the room in blurs - sometimes moving so fast he disappeared all together. Rhys' father whipped his head wildly in all directions, trying to find him.

Hiei finally stopped behind him, swinging his katana gracefully into numerous slashes that looked like mere flashes to the untrained eye. The man jumped away after a few seconds, only to fall to his knees. His hand searching for his pocket for another spike until it was cut off by the short fire youkai.

Only now did he show signs of fear, his eyes shifting to Hiei's shoulder. The fear disappeared from his eyes, replaced by a scornful hatred. "Ah, how sweet. My daughter's mate has avenged her," he said, in a tone that would have been sarcasm if blood hadn't almost completely seeped into his lungs yet.

Hiei was completely thrown off by that. Mate? Since when?

"Confused...boy? Ha, you...you didn't even know...did you?" the man sputtered slowly.

Hiei clenched his katana tightly, his dark eyes narrowing dangerously. "Don't. Call. Me. Boy."

The man paid him no mind, trying to use his last moments wisely. "Look...your shoulder. The mark...it's there."

With one last glare at him Hiei glanced at his shoulder and gasped inwardly. There was a golden handprint on his skin. A print small enough to fit Rhys…. He looked back to her father, not letting his emotions show in his cold eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Deny all you...want, boy...it's there. It'll con-continue...hurting you as Rhys...continues to hurt...herself. Until..." the man took a long, shuddering breath and closed his eyes.

"Until...you want it...to be...there."

With that, the man fell onto a floor as cold as his own lifeless body.

- - - -

This time, the group assembled in Yusuke's apartment after making sure Atsuko was out on another booze trip. Kuwabara was laid out on the couch, still unconscious, while Rhys rested the same way in Atsuko's bed. Yukina had tried everything she could, but insisted that it was now up to the two unconscious ones whether they made it or not.

After a drink and a rest, Kurama went back to his house with Yukina and Botan. No one was exactly sure when Hiei had left, or where to, but by the time Yusuke went to bed it was only himself, Kuwabara, and Rhys.

Two days passed without event. Well, unless you count Yusuke skipping school again and getting yelled at - and slapped numerous times - by Keiko.

The third day was when Kuwabara groggily rubbed his eyes and sat up, complaining that he was extremely hungry. He and Yusuke fought about who would make breakfast until Kurama and the two girls showed up - then Kuwabara forgot his stomach and sat to talk with Yukina.

Yusuke somehow managed to talk - or bribe, however you look at it - Kurama into making breakfast for everyone. While he was waiting for the toast to, well, toast, Kurama turned to talk with Yusuke, Botan, and Keiko, who were in the kitchen waiting for their breakfast. "Have any of you seen Hiei? He disappeared after we all came here."

Botan and Keiko looked the slightest bit worried and shook their heads no, while Yusuke just shrugged. "He's probably out training, or getting revenge on someone, or...doing what he does."

Botan shook her head. "Even if he was training, or 'doing what he does', he'd check in with at least Kurama. I think what Rhys' father said kind of...got to him."

Keiko turned a confused expression to Yusuke. "What did he say?"

Yusuke took a big breath, then explained. "First I think he was talking about wanting to kill Rhys, and then he said that he was her father. Rhys tried to attack him and he threw a spike with poison on it at her - that's why she's out - and Hiei fought him. When he was dying, he told Hiei that Rhys had marked him, or something, and that Hiei was Rhys' mate." He paused, took a breath, and was cut off by Keiko.

"Her _mate_?"

"Well, yeah."

"Couldn't you put it, I don't know, more...nicely than 'mate'?"

Yusuke just shrugged. "Not really. But whatever you call it, they're stuck together now."

- - - -

A shadow climbed nimbly through Atsuko's window, converging with the dark room and almost disappearing altogether. It moved stealthily across to the room to the bed and looked down at its occupant. Rhys was breathing softly and slowly - almost not at all.

The shadow stood by her side, gazing at what the moon's light showed to be her face. Such a peaceful expression - quite unlike her true self. He sighed to himself. So this was the person he would be with all his life. It wasn't that he didn't want her...not at all. He sat near her feet, staring at her face, and reflected.

He remembered how cautious and cold she was at first, but after his first few sentences became gentler, warmer towards him. And then how she reminded him of himself - lost in three worlds, shown kindness by strangers.

Fast forward to that night. She had saved his life and she didn't even know it. Was that why had he been jealous when Kurama kept watch over her? He didn't remember the reason anymore - if there was one to begin with.

Then she had woken up to a dead demon laying on her. He supposed he could have been a little warmer towards her...okay, a lot warmer.

Then that afternoon - when he had entered her mind and discovered her...secrets. Why was she so angry? So she had killed her sister - could she live in the past forever? And if the source of her pain was her father, she had nothing to fear now that he was gone.

_'But she doesn't know...'_ he realized. He remembered Yukina telling them something. _'It's up to them now whether they make it or not.'_

Of course Kuwabara had woken up faster than Rhys: he actually _wanted_ to come back.

She had no reason to. All that welcomed her was a hateful father, a sorry life, and abusive secrets.

Rhys shifted back and forth uneasily in her sleep, tears moistening her cheeks. What was she dreaming? Hiei pulled her blankets to cover her more, his hand brushing against her skin.

It was burning. She was still burning. His forehead glowed a soft purple as he used his Jagan to enter her mind once more.

All he could see was black. Was this some kind of block, a side effect of the poison? Or was she lost in the darkness of her own mind?

- - - -

_-- In Rhys' Dream --_

It was dark.

That was pretty much all Rhys could make of where she was. It didn't scare her, though, but made her almost content. She liked the dark, preferred it over light, but she wished she could at least have a candle.

She started walking, hoping she wouldn't bumb into anything when something warm and furry ran past her legs. Rhys gave a little scream and started walking faster. She had no clue where she was going but she suddenly wanted light desperately.

In the distance she could make out the outline of a door, and it looked like light shining through its edges. Her legs ran towards it and she thrust it open, then slammed it shut. As much as she had wanted to reach the door a minute ago, she now didn't want to go through it equally as much.

She opened the door a crack and peeked through it. She saw the living room of the home she had run away from, and someone sleeping on the couch.

It was herself, only younger!

Rhys watched in shock as a smaller girl with red pigtails and freckles approached the sleeping younger Rhys.

Stahr? It was Stahr!

Then, with a sick feeling unfurling itself in her stomach, Rhys realized what she was seeing. Any second now she would kill Stahr!

She threw the door open and took a step into the room, stopping when Stahr knelt down beside the sleeping Rhys and raised the knife she had been holding. The real Rhys' breath was coming short and her heart was pounding like a hammer in her chest. She didn't want to watch, but was mesmerized by the sight of her own body starting to glow a bright gold.

Then the scene went black. The door she was leaning on disappeared and she fell, surprised, to the floor. She looked up to see light streaming in from what seemed to be a hole in the wall of darkness surrounding her. It looked like the exit to a cave, but that was ridiculous. She had just been in her house, how could she now be in a cave?

Walking towards the exit, the sunlight dazzled her eyes for a few moments and she let her eyes adjust to it.

Green grass tickled her bare feet and she looked at her surroundings. To her left lay a clear blue lake with floating ducks quacking and swimming in it. To her right was an open meadow, complete with pleasant-smelling flowers and chiriping crickets. Straight ahead of her lay the beginning of a forest, tall trees reaching towards the sky and their foliage blocking out the sunlight.

She walked over the the lake's bank and watched the ducks play and quack at each other. A soft breeze swept through the air and trees, making a soft whooshing sound sounding almost like whispers. The wind picked up, making the whispers sound like real words. _'Trust...trust the dragon...' _She looked to the sky. Who - or what - was the dragon?

She shrugged at no one and her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten for quite some time. But there wasn't any food here...perhaps in the forest? Rhys had stayed with demons long enough to learn what was safe to eat in the woods, if there was nothing else. And there usually wasn't.

The air dropped a couple degrees and a high green canopy blocked the majority of the sun's warm light as Rhys settled on entering the forest. The kiyone glanced around, deciding to take a right when she could distinguish no path.

Someone grabbed her wrist and she found herself being pulled through the forest by none other than - "Hiei? What are you doing?"

He was holding her wrist where he had originally left his finger marks a few days ago. "Follow me," he stated simply, not looking at her but to where he was going.

It wasn't as if she had a choice; he was much stronger than his height let on. They twisted around trees, over fallen trunks, and even jumped over a small stream before arriving at a small clearing. Here the canopy had parted and the sun shone strongly, its rays visible around the edges of the clearing where the shadow of the trees lay. Hiei let go of her wrist and, still not looking at her, turned and walked away from the clearing.

"Hiei! Wait...!" Suprisingly enough, he turned around. But the person who had turned around wasn't Hiei - it was her father.

His face was contorted in a maniacal grin as he advanced toward her with slow, heavy steps. It seemed she was too scared of him to do anything other than back away, until she bumped rather hard into the trunk of a tree.

Her father was only a few feet away and in seconds would cause some considerable - and definitely painful - damage. She needed something - anything - to defend herself. Her hands grasped wildly around her to find anything sharp or blunt enough to keep him away from her and she found, to her surprise, a dagger laying on the forest floor as if waiting patiently for her to use it.

Just in time, she swooped down and grabbed the dagger from the floor as her father lunged for her. Her arms thrust themselves almost naturally to block her face and she had the dagger in a death grip. He aimed a punch at her stomach, but she jumped and landed quite neatly behind him, not even breathing hard or shaking - which was quite something, being as scared as she was.

Almost robotically, she shoved the dagger into her father's back and just about screamed in surprise when she saw that the weapon she wielded was no longer a dagger. Instead it was a sword, with a blade of what seemed to be shining, white light.

Rhys pulled it from her father's wasted form and stood back to admire its glow. If you forgot that it was a killing weapon, the sword was actually pretty in a way. She loved the warmth it emitted and how it almost seemed like a glowing piece of the sun itself.

Her hand released its death grip on the handle as she went to hold it at her side, but at once the weapon was reduced again to a mere dagger. She looked at in confusion, wondering where the sword had gone and if it had only been a hallucination. Shrugging to herself, she tucked the dagger into the waistband of her pants, figuring she could at least protect herself now.

A deep grumble sounded from her stomach, reminding her why she had gone into the forest to begin with. Fortunately she spotted some berries on a bush and started eating them right away.

A couple minutes of eating brought her to a complete stop. Panic stemmed from her cramping stomach and flooded her heart and mind. These were purple berries - one of the most poisonous, next to orange.

She let out a moan of anguish and pain. How could she have been so stupid? The pain from her stomach intensified, causing Rhys to bend over and vomit while holding onto a tree for support. She sat heavily and leaned her back against the tree, head pounding and vision blurred, feeling the worst she ever remembered feeling.

- - - -


	7. Dreaming of Times Long Past

I know, it's been forever. I've finally been working on this story again, though. After I had written Chapter 9 a year or two ago, I got fed up with the story, thinking it was irrevocably another Mary Sue. And for the most part it is, I admit. But then I sat down and wrote most of Chapter 10, and I hope I've fixed that problem, even in the slightest. It was fun to write, and there's an attempt at humor at the end. That's not the last chapter, though. I still haven't worked out an ending for this story yet. But, believe it or not, I have actually finished a story. I know, it's hard to believe, and it's a first for me. So yay! And...no other news, really. Pure laziness has kept me from updating this story. So here I am, trying not to be lazy...and all I'm doing is rambling. Here's Chapter Seven:

- - - -

**Chapter Seven  
_Dreaming of Times Long Past  
_**

- - - -

_-- In Reality --_

The sound of creaking floorboards instantly brought Hiei out of his thoughts. He had jumped to the darkest corner of the room seconds before the door opened, bringing in a dull light and three teens.

Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Kurama grouped together at the foor of Atsuko's bed, staring intently at Rhys. "Kuwabara, I thought you said she was awake," sounded Yusuke's grumpy voice.

"No, I said I felt her using her spirit energy," Kuwabara replied in defense.

"I don't believe a person has to be awake to use their spirit energy," Kurama added quickly, sensing another disagreement brewing.

"Whatever, I'm going back to bed." Yusuke walked to the door and paused when he heard Kurama ask Kuwabara to turn on the light.

Once light illuminated the dark room it could be seen that Rhys was quickly losing color. The kiyone clamped her hands around her stomach and groaned in her sleep, turning to her side.

Kurama quickly felt her forehead and announced, "She's burning up. We'd better take her to Genkai's."

Kuwabara nodded along with Yusuke. Kurama moved forward, about to pick up the small demon, when Hiei stepped from the shadows.

"I'll take her."

It wasn't an offering, it was a command. The fire youkai made that obvious by cradling her in his arms and walking as quick as only he can out the door, undoubtedly to Genkai's temple.

The three just shrugged to one another and followed his leave when Kurama stopped them. "We forgot about Botan and Yukina. Someone has to stay with them."

Kuwabara instantly jumped at the chance to be near his dearest Yukina while Yusuke and Kurama hurried off to Genkai's temple.

- - - -

_-- In Rhys's Dream --_

Rhys rolled slowly over onto her back, eyes closed tightly and hands clenched over her stomach. She ached everywhere and it seemed as though she wouldn't stop vomiting until her stomach threw itself up.

Soft footsteps sounded near her, causing her to try and sit up. Black dots instantly clouded her vision for a moment and she almost threw up again. Controlling the urge, she slowly propped herself up with her hands behind her and looked up to see a black-skinned, hazel eyed demon with flowing silver hair staring down at her.

Her surprise instantly turned to panic when she realized she was totaly helpless - and the poison in her blood wasn't helping. That and the demon was approaching her - moving almost as slow as she, but moving nonetheless.

She tried to crawl backwards but was stopped by the trunk of the tree she had been leaning on. Only a few inches from her, the demon stopped and bent down so that he was level to her. He moved to take her arm, which she jerked back violently, feeling pain shoot up her arm and fade away. Before she had time to move again he had grabbed her wrist and seemed to be...checking her pulse?

His next move was to feel her forehead and cheeks, all the while muttering to himself. She raised her questioning orange orbs to his hazel ones and he gave an unexpected smile. "You'll be okay," he told her, his voice sounding like only one person she remembered. Maybe it was her present state, or maybe she was just hallucinating, but his voice sounded like Tomoru, her childhood friend.

"Who are you?" she asked in a whisper, as it hurt to talk loudly.

The demon didn't answer, but instead passed a hand over her stomach. Rhys was about to ask who he was again when she was overcome with a strong feeling of having to vomit once again. She quickly sat up and emptied her stomach onto the green grass beside her, ignoring the dizzy feeling recieved resulting from sitting up too fast. Done, she rested her back against a tree and let out a breath.

Surprisingly, she felt better.

Much better.

In fact, she felt so much better that she stood up without feeling dizzy. Her attention returned to the silver-haired demon standing next to her and she flashed a smile. "Thank you."

He bowed his head. "You're welcome."

Now she was sure of it - he sounded exactly like Tomoru. She cocked her head to one side, debating with herself whether she should say anything or not.

"Have we...met before?" she asked him, eyes expectant.

The demon only smiled mischeviously and replied, "I think you'd recognize me better in my human form."

She opened her mouth to ask him what he meant when sudden swirls of fog appeared out of nowhere. They enveloped the demon and flashes of different colored light streamed out of the smoke. When it had cleared, the overbearing demon from moments before had disappeared.

In his place stood a crimson eyed, young, tall boy, a white star-burst standing out in his pointed black hair. She was about to call him 'Hiei' when a wide grin relaxed his sharp features, eliminating all thoughts that this could be him. This demon's eyes were friendlier...and Hiei never smiled.

Rhys smiled back, realizing this could only be one other person. "Tomoru?" she asked in a whisper, as if he was a dream and talking too loudly would make him vanish.

The demon nodded eagerly.

Before allowing herself to get too excited, she narrowed her eyes and asked suspiciously, "Since when were you a demon?"

A guilty look quickly crossed his face and he looked at her apologetically. "All my life. That's why my parents forbade me to see you." He looked extremely sad for a moment before another grin lit up his face.

Rhys was about to ask what it was when two hands clamped over her eyes, shielding her vision completely. She blindly struggled with her attacker, but their grip was almost as tight as Hiei's. A light giggle met her ears, making her suddenly stop struggling.

A smile graced her lips as she connected the giggle with a face from her past. Old memories came flooding back to her mind as her eyesight was regained and the hands left her face. She whirled around, anitcipation shining in her eyes. Only one person - besides Tomoru and Stahr - had ever dared do that to her - another old childhood friend who was like another sister to Rhys.

"Laina!" she cried, giving her best friend a giant hug. Laina hugged her as well, then stood back to take in her old friend and all her changes.

"Rhys, you've changed so much!" Laina said in surprise.

"Me? What about you?" In all the years Rhys had known her, Laina had always kept her beautiful auburn hair long. Now she sported auburn curls reaching just past her shoulders. Also changed was her height - she now just about towered over Rhys. Not that everyone else didn't, but it made Rhys feel slightly sad to see how much the two had changed.

Much later, the three friends sat in a sloppy triangle on the forest floor, chatting as if hardly any time had passed between their last visit. Tomoru and Laina had already shared what had happened in their lives since the last time they all saw each other. The conversation had drifted from old friends to family relationships to new relationships.

Rhys put in the occassional nod and murmur, but had stayed mostly quiet. This was nothing abnormal, though, as she was normally the most quiet out of the three. It was Laina who asked Rhys the first direct question.

"So Rhys, how's your life been?"

Rhys didn't answer right away, debating with herself whether she should tell them about running away from her home, or meeting the Reikai Tantei, or her feelings for Hiei, or - she stopped herself, her heart skipping a beat. Since when did she have 'feelings' for Hiei?

Tomoru gave her a little nudge, waiting for her answer. She glanced quickly at him, silently berating herself for almost calling him Hiei again.

She opened her mouth to reply when the earth underneath them began to shake and throw them around. "What's happening!" shouted Laina to her two friends.

They all stood shakily, fighting to keep their balance against the shaking. Tomoru and Rhys weren't able to answer Laina's question, as a giant crack spread across the forest floor. It seemed as if the earth was tearing itself into two pieces of land. The worst of it was Tomoru and Laina were on one side and Rhys was on the other.

The crack was still relatively small and Rhys judged she could jump it without a problem. She motioned to her friends to move aside and backed up to give herself a running start. 'Breath, you can do this,' she told herself, inhaling and exhaling deeply. It was now or never.

Rhys realized she was running a few seconds after her legs had started on their own. The sight of the widening crevace made her slow down slightly, but before she had a chance to stop she had jumped as far as she could. She could see the other side so clearly - the green grass, her friend's happy faces, the blue skies.

She was a couple of feet into the middle of the gaping hole when she realized she wouldn't make it.

The last thing she heard was Laina's defeated cry of, "NO!" before she fell into the dark unknown of deep inside the earth's crust.

- - - -

_-- Still In the Dream --_

Rhys looked up to realize she was laying rather uncomfortably on a hard marble floor. She stood shakily, confused at her new surroundings.

She was in a hallway of some sort and there were doors leading to unnamed rooms surrounding her. Lamps were placed periodically along the wall to make up for the lack of windows, but other than that nothing decorated the wooden walls. A heavy, important looking door rose in front of her, the bronze handle old and worn.

She looked at the door as if waiting for the answer to an unvoiced question. After standing in front of it for a minute or two she finally opened it. A few steps into the somewhat large room revealed it held a giant screen almost the size of one wall and a desk with chairs both in front and behind it. As she took the room in, she got the vague feeling she had been there before.

"Ahem."

Rhys turned to see a toddler staring at her expectantly. "Hello, Rhys. I expect you've come to see me about your sister, Stahr." He spoke in a casual tone, as if the two had met before and planned a meeting.

Rhys was left bewildered by his statement about her sister. Before she could stop herself she had blurted out, "Who are you?"

The toddler cleared his throat again and proclaimed, "I am Koenma, co-ruler of Spirit World. I gather Yusuke and the others have mentioned me?"

This was Koenma? She couldn't hold back the giggle from escaping her lips.

He looked slightly offended and she said in an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry, but I imagined you to be...different." _'More like taller and older,' _she added in her mind.

"I am at least five times your age, but let's not get into that now. About your sister," he said sternly.

At the mention of Stahr Rhys immediately sobered. "Yes...sir?"

Koenma clicked a button on a remote toward the giant screen and it illuminated behind her. She turned to see a now familiar scene - her living room, herself, and her sister. The same sick feeling crept over her again as she watched Stahr attempt to murder her younger self again.

Tears stung her eyes, but she wouldn't allow them to spill over. Crying in front of Hiei was one thing, but crying in front of a demi-god was another.

"Your father was a skilled demon, as you can see."

At the sound of his voice she whirled around, processing the words in her head. "What do you mean?"

Koenma raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. "You mean you didn't know your father was a demon?"

"Well, I kind of guessed as much by now, but no."

The toddler looked pensive for a moment and said, "He had the power to control minds. He used Stahr kill you, but as you can see, you instead killed her."

Rhys stepped back from the desk and the toddler, trying to absorb the information. "Why would my own father want to kill me?"

"Power," the toddler stated simply. "You were too powerful, even more than he was. He didn't want to be defeated by you when you got older, so he tried to make you weaker, and eventually tried to kill you," Koenma finished, hands folded in front of him on his desk.

As she opened her mouth to ask another question, the room began to fade from sight, eventually leaving Rhys lost to an empty atmosphere of pitch black.

- - - -

The next thing Rhys knew, she was slowly opening her eyes to find herself in a small, square room well lit by sunlight. She was changed into all white clothing, somewhat resembling a hospital attire, and was laying on soft blankets.

The sudden light made her eyes hurt and she shut her eyes again, vaguely aware of a door sliding open and someone entering the room. The person walked closer to her, but stopped before coming too close. Rhys could feel their gaze on her.

She opened her eyes to see an older woman with and faded pink hair standing near her. The woman's lips curved into a smile, almost as if to reassure her that she was safe. Before any words were spoken the woman had left the room, leaving Rhys to wonder if the sudden encounter had happened at all.

Genkai slid the door to the young kiyone's room shut and walked briskly to a room on the side of the temple. She joined Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, Botan, and Yukina sitting on the floor and announced, "The girl is awake."

- - - -


	8. Alone With You

I didn't think people still read this, so I was very surprised when I saw a review asking me to update (thanks Kagome395477). I'm uploading the final three chapters (that's including this one), and that will be this story's end.  
I'm dedicating this chapter to you, the reader. Without your occasional nudgings, this would never have gotten done. Thank you!

- - - -

**Chapter Eight  
**_**Alone With You** _

- - - -

After the older woman left the room, Rhys drifted into a dreamless yet peaceful sleep.

The next time she awoke, she found herself to be in the same room, in the same spot in the middle of the floor. Now, though, the room was veiled in darkness, the moon's pale glow giving just enough light to cast the dullest shadows on the wood floor.

She sat up, letting the blankets fall carelessly around her waist and hugged her knees to her chest. Scenes from her dream floated to her mind and she closed her eyes as if watching a movie inside her head. She came to the scene where she had met her father.

A happiness like no other she had ever experienced quickly swept through her entire being, a smile curving her lips when she remembered the graceful way she had killed him.

The next second though, guilt and sadness had consumed her euphoria of just moments before. He was her father, after all.

_'But he wanted me dead, and it was either me or him,'_ she told herself, trying to justify her actions and erase the negative feelings.

But the thoughts didn't leave her and a familiar - though nasty - voice spoke from the far reaches of her mind. _'What kind of daughter would even think about killing her own father, let alone actually do it,''_ it spat out, disgust clear in its tone.

_'Only the worst.' _

Tears brimmed in her orange eyes as the voice continued tauntingly.

_'That's why your mother left, she couldn't stand knowing she raised a daughter like you.'_

Before her tears could spill over, a hand gently touched her arm and a voice accompanied it.

"What's on your mind?" it asked.

Rhys looked at the hand, then raised her eyes to meet Kurama's concerned green ones. He smiled a happy, friendly smile. A smile she couldn't return. "It's nothing," she replied, shaking her head to prove her point.

Kurama withdrew his hand from her arm and sat back on his knees, giving her a knowing look. "Are you sure?" Her gaze left him and explored the darkness surrounding them.

"I had a dream..." she started, continuing to tell him her dream in its entirety. Why she was telling him everything she didn't know, but he was an easy person to talk to and an excellent listener. He listened to her, never interrupting, only nodding occasionally to show he was still paying attention.

Only when she finished telling the dream would she look at him again, and was surprised to see Kurama staring at her intently. The moment their eyes met, both looked away immediately and Rhys felt a red tinge creep into her cheeks.

Kurama broke the awkward silence with his uncanny ability to know what was bothering a person. "You didn't kill your father," he stated simply.

That caught her attention and she looked at him sharply. "You mean he's still alive?" A hint of fear made her voice sound panicked while her eyes widened with apprehension.

"No, no, he's dead," he assured her as she let out a breath. "Hiei made sure of that."

The statement lingered in the air and it took the kiyone a moment to comprehend what he was saying. _'Does that mean he - no, he was just doing his job...wasn't he?' _"What do you mean?" she asked finally, eyes on the kitsune's face.

His eyes seemed to sparkle mischievously, but before he could say a word, the sound of a sword being unsheathed echoed between the walls of the small room and Kurama could feel the cold blade press into his back.

"Don't say another word, kitsune, or this blade goes through your heart," Hiei threatened, applying more pressure to the blade to emphasize his point.

Rhys' eyes widened in shock, seeing the fire demon's eyes glowing a deadly crimson and hearing his threat clearly. She had thought Kurama and Hiei were friends - but friends don't threaten each other so seriously.

Kurama, however, sat unfazed. "Hello, Hiei," he greeted his friend normally, as if he didn't have a katana sticking in his back threatening to pierce his heart.

"I'd prefer people didn't talk about me when I'm not there," the fire demon said dangerously, tightening his grip on the sword.

"Well now that you're here, you can join our conversation," Kurama said calmly.

Hiei sheathed his katana. "Or you could leave it."

A silent panic swept through Rhys - she _REALLY _didn't want to be left alone with Hiei. If he was threatening his own friends, who knows what he'd do to her?

But Kurama only smiled nonchalantly and stood while Hiei sat, facing Rhys, cross-legged on the floor. The two watched the kitsune leave, Rhys trying to catch his eye to beg him not to go, but it almost seemed as if he was trying not to look at her. Kurama slid the door closed and a tense silence filled the room.

Rhys felt her heart beat quicken when she realized just how close Hiei had sat next to her. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, so she instead stared uneasily at her hands.

"I'm sorry," she said, breaking the silence.

Curiosity lifted a corner of his usual mask and he couldn't help but ask, "For what?"

"For making you think I was talking about you behind your back," she said, quiet as ever. The fire youkai was left speechless, having been expecting an argument and not an apology. She was only half surprised by his silence and even felt a hint of triumph at catching him off his guard.

But he recovered quickly and replied with a frown, "You should be." At this a flash of anger warmed her blood and she glared at him, eyes flashing.

"You don't have any reason to be angry with me, Hiei. I didn't do anything to you," she said hotly.

"You never did tell me where those cuts came from," he countered coolly, freezing her glare with a look of a coldness so intense she was forced to look away.

"My father. He used to hit me," she answered matter-of-factly. _'At least that's not a lie,' _she thought to herself, knowing he wouldn't accept that answer.

And he didn't.

"When I found you, your father was nowhere near you."

"I...ran away from home," she explained weakly, looking at him again. He just stared at her, his deep crimson eyes boring past her eyes, into her soul...and the revelation unfolded itself to her like a silent awakening.

He knew.

He had known everything all along and was just trying to get her to admit to it. How had she been so blind to the truth?

A faint smirk curled his lip when he saw the realization in her eyes. Without even thinking, her hand reached up and she slapped him hard across the cheek.

Or she would have, but he caught her just before she could make contact with his face. She recoiled at his touch, though his grip was not nearly as tight as the last time he had surprised her.

Forcing her hand away from him, he leant close to her and said through clenched teeth, "Don't blame me for your mistakes." Her hand dropped limply to floor as he sped out the door, not looking back.

Once out of the kiyone's room, Hiei didn't stop and sped down the stairs that led into the miles of lush greenery surrounding Genkai's temple. The highest tree within a mile's radius was his destination and it came into view in seconds.

He nestled himself into the highest branches that would support him, thinking furiously and breathing hard. He didn't believe the young girl's audacity - she had tried to slap him! No one had ever dared lay an unwelcome hand on him and lived.

But then his mind flashed him an image of himself and Rhys on a tree branch. Their arms were around each other, frozen in that moment of time. He shook the thought out of his head.

One thing was for sure: He had to get away from the girl for a while. If he didn't stop himself soon, she would become a weakness, one he wouldn't want to lose...

...One he loved.

- - - -

Rhys had almost lost her balance as Hiei sped away from her. She couldn't stop thinking of the remark the fire demon had left her with. _'Don't blame me for your mistakes.' _

What did he think he was talking about? Did he actually think she would do that? Was it because she had tried to hit him? He did seem more than a little angry about that...

But she couldn't just let him walk free after discovering his motive. He would have let her dangle on his thread, be his puppet, watch her squirm away from the truth when he knew it all along. In her heart she felt the truth of it all stabbing her.

He hated her.

Really hated her.

What other reason did he have to make her suffer as so?

She stumbled to her feet and weakly pushed the door open, the fresh night's scent breaking over her like a wave of reality. The moon was almost full tonight, its light partially obscured by dark clouds drifting near it. Stars dotted their existence where they could between the clouds in small bursts, illuminating the night sky. Rhys looked out to see the outline of a forest, trees swaying in a gentle, warm wind.

The night's beauty somewhat calmed her and she stepped out of the temple and into the forest. As she walked along what seemed to be a path, the only noise she heard was the soft whispering of branches swaying in the breeze and the chirping music of small insects. She glanced about her as she continued on, gazing at the trees and delicate plants surrounding her.

Her attention was suddenly directed to a large bush when she heard it move uncharacteristically. Her pace quickened instinctively as she traveled deeper into the dark forest, the sky obscured by dense foliage.

She glanced behind her, her feeling of being followed multiplied when a shiver ran down her back. She wrapped her arms around herself, the night's once warm and inviting air suddenly seeming cold and unfriendly.

A part of her brain - the sensible part - commanded her to go back to Genkai's temple, while the other part told her she had nothing to fear, that she could trust the night. Her brain argued with itself until she finally told herself to shut up and concentrate on where she was going.

She gave a small gasp when an owl hooted down to her from the lower branches of a nearby tree. She finally caved in to the sensible half of her mind and turned back on the path.

Her attention was diverted behind her when she heard uneven footsteps following her. She had never really been afraid of the night at this level before. But then again, she had never been followed at night either.

Now at a slight jog, she forced her attention away from outside sounds and on the path she was taking. It was quite an easy task, as the path was visible even through the dim light allowed through the thick leaves covering the night sky.

A sharp growl met her ears and she spun around, almost falling over in her haste. What met her sight was a beast with taut earth colored skin and beady black eyes carrying a hungry look.

Rhys gave a small scream before scrambling the rest of the way down the path, the beast not far behind. Because of its size it lumbered along at a far slower pace than hers, but its long legs also gave it longer strides than hers. At the end of the forest she turned back to see the thing not far behind. A shiver passed through her when it roared menacingly at her.

She found she couldn't use her legs and realized she was completely defenseless, without even a knife. All she could do was watch the beast approach her and hope not to scream to much while it was ripping her apart.

Suddenly a short, older woman ran in front of the kiyone and sank into a fighting position. With a couple blasts of blue spirit energy the beast was down and not moving on the forest floor. The blasts had been enough to shake Rhys' shock and she breathed deeply.

The old woman turned to her, a harsh glimmer in her eye. "This forest if full of dangerous creatures. Next time, don't go out alone," she said, her tone impatient and condescending.

Rhys nodded in both understanding and apology. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. Next time I won't."

The woman seemed satisfied and motioned for Rhys to follow her up the stairs and into the temple. Rhys followed her into a room similar to the one she had slept in but with different furnishings. Here there was a table set with many places and a picture of a god on the wall. One look at the painting and Rhys felt uneasy - its eyes seemed to follow her around. The kiyone turned from it when the old woman spoke.

"Everyone should be up soon. Once we eat I would like to begin your training."

"Training? For what?"

"Koenma asked me to train you to defend yourself against attackers. There's not always going to someone around to save you."

"Thank you," she said, bowing her head to the woman.

"Good morning, Yukina," said the woman, turning her attention to the doorway. A kimono clad girl with aqua colored hair entered the room, bowing excitedly to both Rhys and the woman.

"Good morning, Genkai," she said, her voice light and sweet, and then turned to the kiyone. "Rhys, I'm so happy you're finally up! We were all so worried about you. How are you feeling?"

Rhys couldn't help but smile at the innocently sweet girl. "I'm feeling a lot better, thank you." Yukina gave a broad smile in return.

As the sun's rays swam over the earth bringing day, Kuwabara, Yusuke, Keiko, Kurama, and Botan separately and sleepily entered the room. Breakfast was served, after which Rhys followed Genkai, Yusuke, and Kuwabara to yet another part of the temple.

- - - -


	9. Trying Not To Love Her Is Like Trying

Second-to-last chapter, here. It is, admittedly, very Mary-Sue-ish, especially at the end. I request your forgiveness. This is the chapter I had stopped at for about a year before picking it up again, because of it's horrible...well, horrible-ness. It is by far not my best piece of writing, so please struggle through it and read the next chapter. I only ask this because I believe the next chapter to be the best thing I have ever written; and it's kind of ironic how it's preceeded by this fanficion-literary abomination. So, um, thanks again for sticking with me this far!

- - - -

**Chapter Nine  
_Trying Not to Love Her is Like Trying Not To Breathe_**  
or  
**_Hiei's Return_**

- - - -

A high-pitched scream pierced through the calm night, awaking a certain fire youkai. Hiei's eyes snapped open, his heart beating faster than normal as he leapt to the ground. He cocked his head to one side, trying to determine where the scream originated.

Another cry met his sensitive ears followed by the shouts of men. He took off at once toward the sounds and arrived at the edge of the scene in seconds. There he found a group of five or six lower class demons surrounding a girl.

He was about to turn away and leave them alone when the girl cried out, "Leave me alone!" She struggled against them in vain, only to have another demon hold her down in addition to the one already trying.

The short fire youkai let out a low growl and took a step forward, his pulse racing, when he recognized the voice - it was Rhys.

The demon who proved to be the leader looked in Hiei's direction, motioning for the last two of his goons to check out the area by Hiei. The two demons threw a small spherical object towards him. Before Hiei could see what it was, a restraining wall (A/N Like the one in the Dark Tournament when they had to 'quarantine' Hiei and the Masked Fighter. Yeah.) sprang from it. The wall illuminated him and the demons chuckled at his angry expression.

Hiei ignored them and gazed helplessly at Rhys. Her eyes were wide with fear and she stopped struggling. "Hiei," she said softly, but loud enough for him to hear.

He felt his dark ki surround him, engulfing the area around him in a darkly transparent cloud of energy. It did nothing to distract the gang of demons however, they seemed confident the wall could hold him as they turned their backs on him to face Rhys.

The fire demon smirked to himself, knowing how wrong they were. In one massive energy blast, Hiei let it loose. It tore down the wall, but didn't stop there, continuing on to tear apart the opposing demons.

When the smoke from his attack cleared he stepped forward to see a small body on the floor, among the others. He approached it, halting before with a sick realization. In his haste he had decimated everything...

...Even her -

He abruptly woke up to find himself panting in a cold sweat, cradled in the ever comforting embrace of yet another tree.

That damn dream...he had been having ones like it for days - or was it weeks? He always lost track of time when he was away from civilization, and this time was no different.

But it seemed no matter what time it was, thoughts of the kiyone plagued his mind. There were times he hated her and the spell she seemed to have cast over him.

But there was always that underlying feeling...the one that bound him to the woods surrounding Genkai's temple, forbidding him to go elsewhere.

The next day he couldn't resist the need to at least see her.

He forbid himself to talk and make contact with her, but he would steal a glance if given the chance, and the day was full of chances waiting to be taken.

He waited for the cover of darkness, it was always easier to run in the dark anyway. He approached Genkai's temple, seeing light flooding out of one door in particular, and heard a burst of laughter from it.

He stood a distance from it, but enough to see clearly into the room and not be seen by anyone inside it. No one noticed anything slightly different, or the presence of the fire demon. He wouldn't have had it any other way.

Rhys was sitting with Kuwabara and Yukina and Botan and Yusuke, and they were all laughing at something or other. Hiei gazed at Rhys. Once the laughter had died down her face became serious and she leaned forward to listen to Yusuke.

"You have to tell her, you know," said a voice beside him.

Hiei almost jumped, caught off guard while watching the scene in front of him. He looked away from the kiyone and turned to face the speaker. "Tell her what, fox?"

Kurama gave a slight chuckle. "How you feel."

Inside, panic was slowly filling Hiei, but he contained his emotionless exterior. "And just how do I feel?"

Kurama sighed deeply and stated simply, "You love her."

Hiei's eye's narrowed but he didn't comment, except for, "Hn."

The kitsune looked down at his friend. "I can see it whenever you look at her, Hiei. In your eyes."

"I don't know what you're talking about," was the only reply the fox recieved before Hiei gracefully jumped off the ground and lounged in a high branch.

Kurama sighed again. Why couldn't Hiei just admit it? It was clear that he had feelings for Rhys...maybe he didn't want to hurt her, like Yukina. But, being as he knew the fire youkai well, he knew it was most likely another front put up by the demon to hide his true feelings.

Kurama called up to him, "She has a right to know, it's not like with Yukina - "

"Keep her out of this," Hiei said fiercly. "It's not you business to tell me what and what not to do."

"I'm just suggesting..."

"I don't need your suggestions and I don't want your help."

The fire youkai was about to jump to another tree that was farther away when he stopped, his back to Kurama, and added, "And if you even so much as HINT anything to Rhys, I will kill you," before disappearing into the night.

- - - -

A month had passed.

In that time, Rhys' powers had advanced to the point where she could defend herself against Kuwabara, but she was sure he was holding back because she was a girl. Genkai's training proved to be not only successful, but rough. At the end of each session the kiyone was almost completely purged of all her energy.

But it was worth it. She loved the satisfaction she felt when she finally did something right.

She also found that Yukina and Botan (and Keiko, when she came by) weren't all that unbearable once she got used to them. They were easy enough to talk to and rarely ever too busy to hang out. The four girls spent quite a lot of time together cooking, walking, or doing whatever. Rhys was happy to have friends she could talk to again, but with new friends came sorrow at not being able to see the old. Laina could never be replaced.

But through all the good things now happening to her, it seemed there was something still missing. She couldn't describe the feeling, much less what it was she wanted, but she found herself thinking of it often.

- - - -

After dinner, everyone sat near the edge of the dark forest around a bright fire. Rhys sat apart from them, staring off into the woods.

She was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she didn't notice Kurama standing next to her until he spoke. "What do you see?" he asked, looking to where she appeared to be.

The sudden sound of his voice surprised her out of her reverie and she glanced up at him. "Hm? Oh, I'm sorry Kurama, I didn't see you there." Her gaze returned to the darkness beyond the fire's reach. "I'm just thinking."

The fox sat on the ground as well. "About Hiei?" he guessed - correct, of course.

Rhys smiled into the night. "How did you know?"

The kitsune shrugged. "You're eyes light up whenever you think or talk about him."

Her smile became faint as a look of longing came into her eyes. "Is it that obvious?" she questioned, turning to face the kitsune.

After a moment she looked away and said quickly, "You don't have to answer that." They sat in silence, the laughter of the group by the fire echoing into the deep of the woods before them.

"He never actually left," said Kurama softly, immediately drawing her eyes again. "He just never shows himself. He's been watching, most likely."

Part of Rhys was comforted by the thought, but part was slightly scared. But either way, she still couldn't figure out WHY he had left. All logical reasoning pointed to her. She had probably made him feel uncomfortable, and obviously made him angry, but...she missed him. He was her missing link, made her feel complete.

And now he was gone again.

"Coming, you two?" called Genkai - the only remaining person outside besides Kurama and Rhys - and walked inside.

Kurama began walking in as well, but noticed that she wasn't following and glanced back. There she stood, once again gazing wistfully into the dark forest. He smiled knowingly, then retreated inside.

Meanwhile, the kiyone stood rooted to the spot she had once been sitting in. "Come back soon, Hiei. I miss you..." she whispered into the same warm breeze that teased her hair around her waist, hoping that her message could somehow reach him, where ever he was.

She lingered a few moments more, then turned smoothly and headed back to Genkai's temple.

- - - -

The trees were whispering to each other. The dark night was all Hiei woke to, in a cold sweat and knowing he had been dreaming again.

He sighed to himself, trying to get his heart beat to return to its normal pulse. Calm...the night was so calm, its silence only broken by the spontaneous cries of different creatures and the breeze.

Then, his sensitive ears detected a foreign sound...laughter. He flitted closer to Genkai's temple and the sound of familiar voices echoed his way. Even closer, and he could distinguish who was who. Yusuke. Kuwabara. Genkai. Yukina. Keiko. Botan.

He strained to pick up the missing voices of Kurama and Rhys, but the others were too loud in their merriment. He flitted dangerously close to the group below, the closest he had been in a month.

Now he could see why their voices had been absent: They were sitting away from the others, talking quietly. Hiei instinctively flitted as close as he dared, driven by the need to know what they were saying.

He picked up Kurama's quiet voice. "He never actually left. He just never shows himself. He's been watching, most likely."

The fire demon's eyes narrowed, annoyed with Kurama's accurate statement. Rhys just looked at her hands, a hurt look etched carefully into her small face.

"Coming, you two?" called an older voice, Genkai. Hiei watched as Kurama rose and walked away a little, then glanced back to smile at the kiyone, who was staring wistfully into the forest, and then continue on his way.

Hiei had to concentrate on not approaching her then, while she was alone and distracted. She started to whisper something, and he leaned forward to hear what she was whispering.

_"Come back, Hiei." _His heart skipped beat._ "I miss you..."_

He didn't even try to stop the surprised look from crossing his face, speechless while she simply walked away.

She...she missed him.

He shook his head, a feeling developing in the pit of his stomach. It felt similar to the way he had felt upon learning Yukina - such a sweet innocent girl - was his sister.

It was the feeling he had tried to stop by leaving.

It was the feeling that had been developing the month he stayed away.

It was the feeling that ate at his dreams.

It was the reason he never strayed too far from the temple.

And it was that reason that made him jump down to the ground and walk to where he knew from a month of watching Rhys' room was.

- - - -

Rhys walked slowly into her room, having already said good night to everyone. She wasn't all that tired, but the usual fatigue of a full day hung about her. She changed into pajamas and climbed into her bed, sinking comfortably into it.

Before she could drift to sleep, though, a soft thud caused her eyes to snap open and her to sit up, blankets falling to her waist. "Who's there?" she called into the darkness, but only to be ignored by the intruder.

She was about to call out a warning when he flashed to her side with a speed that could only mean it was one person. "Hiei?" she said to the dark figure, who's eyes were glowing an eery blood red.

She felt his hand reach out to touch her cheek, but then instantly retract it as if scared she would shock him again. He stepped back wordlessly, eyes still glowing.

Why was he back, and so suddenly? Was he merely an illusion of her lonely mind, had that really been him reaching out to touch her? She didn't want to say anything, or move even, for she may be dreaming and the slightest movement would cause her to wake.

But there was the question that had lingered in her mind for weeks. It was gnawing at her throat, begging to be released, until she could finally fight it no longer. "Why did you leave?"

He silently sat on the bed by her feet facing her. "There are some demons who would stoop so low as to hurt the person his opponent holds dear just to weaken him," he stated, his deep voice a relief to her ears. It was him.

His crimson eyes closed as he looked away from the kiyone, who held her breath, as he continued. "I don't want anyone to hurt you in order to weaken me."

She shook her head and looked at her arm, where more cuts had 'mysteriously' appeared - some deep and dangerously close to her wrists.

"You're already killing me."

He stiffened, partially in surprise, not knowing what to say and settling on nothing.

"When you left, I didn't know when you were coming back...or if you were coming back at all..." Rhys drifted off, the last part a whisper.

"You don't understand," he said, having found his voice. "I left because I can't love or be loved." That had come out a little loud, but he didn't care. He was about to talk again when the kiyone interrupted him suddenly.

"Then why do I?" she said timidly, afraid of making him angrier.

"You shouldn't. I only bring destruction."

"First of all," she said just as loudly, "You can't change the fact that I do love you. Second of all, why can't I?"

Hiei stopped in his anger. _'She doesn't know...' _"My mother, a Koorime, had an affair with a fire demon and gave birth to twins. Koorime's don't need a man to reproduce, and to do so was a dishonorable and terrible thing.

"Also at the time I was born there was also a prophecy made. It told of a Forbidden Child, like myself, that would one day murder all in Koorime. Because of that, I was thrown off the island, which floated some distance above Makai. By chance, I survived and was raised by a gang of thieves." He turned from her, hiding his sad expression.

"Was your twin thrown off, too?" Rhys asked to his back.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't know," he lied.

"Did you ever find out who the person was?" she persisted.

"Yes."

The kiyone knew his patience was wearing thin, but she had to ask, "Who?"

He turned slowly to face her. "Yukina."

She smiled at him, but there was something...wrong, in his eyes. Shouldn't he be happy that Yukina was his sister?

Before she could even ask, he told her. "She doesn't know, and I'd like to keep it that way."

His hand rested only inches from hers, and she closed the space, receiving a startled look from him. "I won't tell a soul. But there's one thing you haven't told me," she said, a sly hint in her voice.

_'She's been hanging around that damn fox too long,' _Hiei decided, but gave her a questioning look.

"Why can't I love you?"

He found himself actually speechless. "You...I...it doesn't bother you?" He hated feeling uncomfortable, especially around her. He kept his guard up, prepared for the refusal he knew was coming.

"Why should it?" she asked incredulously, as if it was a minor detail. "That's your past," she continued. "And if you can accept my past, I can accept yours."

All he could do was stare, temporarily amazed at how she brushed the facts off so easily. Then a thought occurred to him. "I...don't know of your past."

"Oh. What would you like to know?" He had told her about himself, the least she could do was return the gesture.

"..." The koorime was silent as he thought of what to ask her, but couldn't decide on where to start. "Everything," was the answer he settled on.

She took a deep breath, then began. "It's nothing compared to your life, but I ran away from home a couple of years ago." It could be compared to being dropped a cliff, she supposed, but she actually chose to run away.

She continued in a low voice, as if afraid of anyone else hearing what she said. "My mother had left a year before that, after I killed Stahr, and my father started to hit me. For no reason but to take out his anger on me. When I finally left, I had no place to go, no family or friends or idea of where to be safe. I met up with a group of other runaways, mostly guys. But I didn't like staying with them, they were always coming on to me. I left and was alone for a while, staying in abandoned houses, sometimes just on the street even."

Her lashes swept downwards and she tilted her head away from the fire demon who was staring at her. "One day, I stole some food from some wealthy man. He caught me and took me to his house, wanting to keep me as his servant in return for not reporting me to the authorities. I couldn't let him to that, because they'd just throw me back in with my father, so I agreed. He kept me in a room in the bottom of the house, probably the basement, I don't know. I was kept there when I wasn't needed for work.

"Then one day, a gang of thieves broke into his house while he was away. They took me away with them, partially because I asked them to and partially because they were on bad terms with the man who owned the house and thought it would be good revenge to steal his servant. That was the group of demons you saw when we first met. They didn't really care that I tagged along with them, as long as I found my own food and didn't bother them too much."

He took her silence as a sign she was done. She hadn't answered all the questions he had, but he wasn't sure if he should press them out of her or not. There was one thing he needed to know, however. "None of that was your fault. Why do you hurt yourself for it?"

She slowly picked up her head to look at him sadly. "It WAS my fault. Why would my mother leave, or my father hit me, or Stahr be dead, or anything else go wrong if I wasn't...me?" She could feel the tears welling up inside her eyes and the need to let them run down her cheeks was burning her throat, but she would not let herself cry.

Hiei let out an exasperated sigh. "Would you stop blaming yourself? Your father was a sadistic bastard who didn't know how to deal with his anger and didn't deserve to live. Your mother didn't leave because of you, she left because she didn't know how to handle your father. None of that is your fault!" Although his voice had gotten quite loud, Rhys couldn't help but notice he had tightened his grip on her hand.

She thought about what he said, now realizing she had been blaming herself for so long that the reasons were hidden in the murky lines of time. Why had she started cutting herself in the first place? Was it because she wanted to control the pain inflicted on her? Because she wanted to prove to her father that no matter how much he hurt her, that she could top it? Well he was dead now...

...Did that mean she could stop?

Would she even be able to?

She turned her eyes up to his beautifully crimson ones, asking him a hundred questions with one look. "Can I stop?" she asked, voice just above a whisper.

"Stop what?"

"...Me," she choked out, finally succumbing to her need to release the years of tears that had been dammed up inside of her. She wanted to be happy and loved and freed of pain. She felt herself being pulled forward, but didn't open her eyes.

A vaguely familiar, pleasant warmth was quickly spreading through her being, and she felt Hiei's arms wrap tightly around her, holding her to him. Was he...actually letting her be close to him? She rested her head on his shoulder and smiled through her tears. She was feeling something she hadn't in a long time. It was what she wished to feel a lifetime of moments ago - happiness, love, and free of pain. His embrace seemed to wash her slate clean, and give her new hope. She didn't want to break away, for that feeling to dissipate in any way.

The moments ticked by in years, until an eternity had passed. They pulled away finally, a few runaway tears still gliding across her cheeks, which Hiei gently brushed away. She caught his hand and gazed into his eyes.

With that look, he suddenly knew why - why he had left, why he hadn't been able to stray far, why he had come back. Because it was only with her did he felt he...belonged. They were matching pieces of the same broken puzzle that had finally been reunited.

He was bound to her with this pleasant feeling that had started with a handprint on his shoulder, and for once he didn't mind. He let himself feel it, let it wash over him, because it felt so right.

He held onto her hand as though she might run away and stopped searching her eyes, for he had already found his answer. "I won't leave you again," he promised her.

She smiled, and he could have sworn his heart had skipped a beat when he saw it light her face. "And I'd never dream of leaving you, Hiei," she replied quietly.

That was what both had been waiting for, what let them know it was okay - so okay that he pulled her into a long awaited kiss.

- - - -


	10. Liebe Erobert Alle

- - - -

**Chapter Ten**

_**Liebe Erobert Alle**_

- - - -

One kiss turned into many. The two sudden lovers grew desperate for each other, exploring such a terrifying new world with only each other to lean on. Fingers reached past cloth, touching skin with an amorous anxiousness, as if each were afraid the other was merely a dream and one wrong move could dissipate it entirely. It was a frightful ecstasy, to finally be able to release what had been welling up inside of them. Coming to terms with their own feelings was like laying down an immensely heavy burden, or overcoming a great obstacle; it left them awed and breathless.

But as quickly as it had started, it had ceased. There was still the feeling in the air that more was to be done; yet all was still, save for the labored breathing of two kindred souls. The red-eyed fire youkai lay next to the orange-eyed kiyone, his calloused sword hand resting on her bare stomach; shirts had been discarded during their feverish dance with each other's bodies.

Her gaze shifted from his piercing red orbs to his naked chest, straying to a mark on his shoulder that had previously caught her eye. Now she gazed at it, admiring its golden beauty. Her hand moved hesitantly, slowly, from the side of his cheek down to the print, until she had covered the imprinted hand with her own. She was forcibly reminded of that day during the thunderstorm, when they had held each other similar to this, and when she had laid her hand upon his shoulder like so. Now, her small hand fit the print - the mark - perfectly.

She removed her hand from the mark - her mark - and let her hand travel still, down her mate's muscular arms and to his wrists, where she almost dared not look. She swallowed hard to prepare herself and looked for what she knew, deep in her heart, would be there.

They were all there, all the scabbing self injuries in the exact way they were on her own wrists. Her heart grew heavy with realization.

Hiei watched her through all this, drinking in her expressions and how they played out the emotions from her heart. A frown was almost distinguishable on his face, however, when he saw her reactions to the marks on his skin.

She suddenly turned her face towards his, absentmindedly tracing his wounds with her soft fingers, a desperate gleam in her eyes. "Please tell me you did this, please..."

He was silent, eyes calculating and mind spinning. He remembered back to when Rhys's father had told him about her special mark, and wondered if Rhys knew the same information. He found himself hoping she did not...but the look in her pleading eyes said otherwise. He retracted his hand from her grasp, slightly turning his body away from her. "I...did not," he admitted, lashes sweeping downwards, not wanting to witness her face falling like he knew it would.

She swallowed again, only this time it was to keep herself together. _'That's why he thinks he loves me, because of the mark,'_ she thought before she was able to stop herself. It was against his will, a fact only proven by their matching wounds. She didn't know what to think. He said he loved her, he had let her into his heart...but she couldn't help but wonder if she had almost physically barged in when she unexpectedly marked him. She said the only thing she could think of. "Hiei, I'm so sorry...if I had known this would happen, I..." she trailed off forlornly, fingers playing with the edge of the blanket that covered the two of them.

The fire demon finally turned towards her again, propping himself up on one elbow. "You're father's information must have been false. We share wounds because of a connection, a deep connection - not for some other half-assed excuse like he was trying to pull to catch me off guard," he told her.

Rhys tried to smile, but almost immediately it broke and fell like train derailing. He had misunderstood the meaning of her apology. She shook her head ruefully, and it was her turn to avert her eyes from his gaze. "No, Hiei," she said in a low tone, as if confessing the truth quietly would soften the blow. "I'm sorry...that I marked you. I made you love me."

He gripped her arm forcefully, but not painfully. "What are you talking about?" he asked fiercely, fangs beginning to show. When she didn't answer, he gave her a shake. "You aren't a witch; you can't make people fall in love. Explain yourself!"

She gave him a fearful glance, unable to hold his intense gaze. He seemed so stubborn, so unwilling to believe her. In any other circumstances, she was sure she would have been elated...but now was entirely different. "That day - in the tree - during the storm - I didn't mean to mark you. I didn't mean it. I didn't even know I _did_, until now, but it seems the only logical time I could have. Hiei, I barely knew you then. And I'm only just getting to know you now. I don't know..."

Hiei was silent for a moment, regarding her with his demonic, red eyes, looming over her still. "Do you regret me?" he asked suddenly, emotionlessly.

"What do you --"

"Do you regret marking me...mating with me? Do you regret me?" he repeated in that torturous monotone that made it sound like he cared not for the situation at hand.

She frowned. "That's not a fair question," she protested. "I regret none of my actions. But if it means that, because of them, the feelings in your heart are not true...then I think I may regret the effect of some of my actions."

The youkai finally released her arm, only to cup her face with his hand and kiss her passionately; after a moment he withdrew. "Tell me you felt nothing," he said.

Rhys gazed up at her mate. To say she felt nothing would be a complete lie. But if she confessed to him how much she felt when he kissed her would only give him the idea that they were in real, true, unquestionable love...when deep in her soul, she knew their love was somehow untrue, faintly forced.

She knew that she loved him, as sure as she knew the color of the sky, but the conflict rested in his interest in her. If she had not marked him, would he still have developed these feelings for her? Would they have committed themselves to each other like they had just now?

"Well?" he prodded, none to gently. Rhys opened her mouth, but no sound came out. The fire demon scoffed. "It's not a difficult question. Yes or no. Come on."

The kiyone bit her lip, raising her eyes to look into his crimson eyes that were fixed so intently on her. Locking gazes with him, she shook her head, trembling with suppressed emotion. She felt as if she was being held underwater, that she would die while constructing the greatest lie she ever had - the lie that bound her heart from the one person she allowed in.

The look he gave her did not make matters better in the least, either. A window behind him glowed with dawn's warmth, making his outline appear to glow also...but the light around him was anything but warm and comforting. His very presence in her room suddenly seemed to give it an unreal chill, as if winter had set in far too early. She couldn't bear it anymore, turning her whole body away from his stone cold mask.

She heard and felt the fire demon next to her shift positions. From his shadow on the wall, she could see he had sat up and was still looking to her. _'Dammit...even his shadow is beautiful,'_ she thought bitterly to herself.

"I refuse to believe that," he stated, still in that frustrating monotone. When Rhys didn't comment, he continued. "I cannot believe that you feel nothing for me. Why would you have done this in the first place?" he said, motioning to her mark.

"When I lived with my father, I knew a boy named Tomoru," she said, trying to imitate his monotone; her shaking voice didn't quite capture the desired effect, however.

"What has that got to do with anything?" he replied in an acidic tone.

"His demon form looked exactly like you. Perhaps I felt some sort of tie to you because of that, and I thought you could be like him," she said dully. "I used to date him, you know. Until his family forbade us from seeing each other and he moved --"

Hiei grabbed her shoulder roughly, turning her body back to face him. "I repeat," he said slowly, his eyes gaining a menacing glint, "what has that got to do with anything? What should I care about your past lovers? You are mine now. I don't want to hear about anyone else!" He gave her a shake for emphasis.

Her eyes narrowed up at him. "_You are mine_," she said, imitating his deep voice, then continued in her own mocking tone. "Ha! As if I'm a prize to be won!"

"Trust me, onna, you're no _prize_," Hiei said dryly moving his scowling face closer to hers. "But I have you now, regardless."

"Excuse me," she interrupted loudly, poking the gold hand print. "But _I_ marked _you_."

Instead of looking enraged like she had assumed he would, he looked almost smug. His fingers swept over the juncture between her neck and shoulders and she let out a cry of unexpected pain when he touched a sensitive spot. "Ow," she whimpered, immediately bringing her hand up to pull his away from the source of pain. But once their hands touched he held onto her fingers, moving them over the most painful point. Rhys's breath caught in her throat when she felt two punctured points only centimeters apart.

He smirked demonically when he saw her reaction. "Who marked who?" he taunted in a low voice.

She looked up at him with disbelieving doe eyes. She moved her lips as if trying to say something, but she didn't seem able form anything comprehensible at the moment. In her silence, Hiei moved his lips to the spot where he had marked her his own way, and pressed a small kiss to the bite.

The kiyone whimpered again, shutting her eyes to will the hurt away. "When-?" she was finally able to say, the word wrenched from her throat in half a gasp. "When did you...?"

She could feel him smirk on her neck before he tilted his head up to speak into her ear. "During our small moment of passion earlier. It's the best time, when the _submitting_ mate will feel it the least. You didn't even notice."

Rhys couldn't help but feel betrayed, his warm breath on her ear sending contrary shivers down her spine. Had he pretended to give himself to her for that reason only - to catch her in her most vulnerable moment and use it to his benefit? She narrowed her orange orbs. "How dare you," she said.

His smirk only deepened, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. "Do you think it unfair that I marked you while you were not expecting it? When you didn't ask for it?" he asked in his taunting, deep voice.

"Is that the only reason you came back - or even the reason you left? You needed time to plan out your revenge on me, so you fled. And coming back here like this, pretending to open your heart to me, it was all a fabrication --" she said in a voice thick with unshed tears at the betrayal she felt.

She was certain that, if he had access to it, his katana would have been biting into her throat. Instead, he gave her a violent shake and a hard glare. "You should know me better than to think I would play with emotion so foolishly."

She knew exactly what he meant, but his words still stung her heart. She wanted to cry. "I'm sorry," she whispered to him in a shaky voice. "But I've already apologized. What more do you want?"

The glare held in his eyes morphed into something else, something unidentifiable. He moved so close that his naturally heated skin touched hers in places that made her blush, even though this was the second time he was making contact there. They both knew she would have attempted escape, had he not been pinning her to the bed. She grimly wondered if escape had _ever _been an option.

"You," he said against her neck, making her grimace in suppressed pain. She noticed his tone seemed lower, huskier. "Not you apologizing. Not you angry. Just you."

She shut her eyes tightly, swallowing the lump in her throat. With him so close, she had trouble denying him, or even herself. This amorous feeling coursing through her veins, was it a result of the strange sequence of events that had transpired after she had met Hiei? Or did she really want this, all of it? She suddenly didn't want to think anymore, pushing all thoughts out of her head and half-moaning, "Yes...Hiei."

She knew this time would be incalculably different from their previous encounter. A diaphanous black ki bled from his very skin into the air around them, blocking all the light of the young, dawning sun from the space around them. The entire room was soon engulfed in the manifestation of the fire apparition's power, crackling and snapping in midair like an inferno...

- - - -

Red.

The color of her imprisonment, of the walls that bound her.

A bloody color, like the fiery orbs of her captor. She was kept in crimson chains in his eyes, chains too heavy to ever hope of breaking free from. Half of her loathed the captive feeling...

...But the other half of her felt like she had helped fashion the very bindings that held her helplessly so.

That color, the red in Hiei's eyes, was the last thing the kiyone remembered seeing before she had let her eyes close and finally allowed herself to sleep under his gaze. His arms, extensions of his chains for her, were wrapped loosely around her as they shared her bed. They had long ago fallen asleep, but she had woken before he. The darkness enveloping the room was no longer charged with energy, signifying that night had already fallen and they had slept the day away.

After a yawn, the golden haired demon patted her empty stomach. She slipped out of her mate's loose hold and picked up her shirt and pants from the floor, putting them on quietly. Careful not to wake her slumbering mate, she tip-toed out the door.

A few minutes later, she was in the kitchen, preparing herself a snack to satisfy her hunger at least until the sun came up. She was about to bite into the second half of a sandwich when she heard someone yawn and enter the room.

"Oh, hey Rhys," a black-haired said sleepily. "What are you doing up?"

The kiyone motioned towards her sandwich. "Just felt like a midnight snack, Yusuke. And you?"

The teen smiled as he moved towards the fridge. "I can smell food any time, any place. And it made me hungry." He finally retreated a minute later with a stack of leftovers in his hands. He set the food on the table and was about to sit down when his previously sleepy eyes suddenly went alert and wide. He stared at her incredulously, seemingly frozen in shock with his mouth agape.

She gave him an odd look as she stood and deposited her plate in the sink. Still aware of his eyes following her, she started washing her dish. "What, Yusuke?"

Behind her, Yusuke could be heard stuttering incoherently for a moment. Finally, he burst out with, "_Are those Hiei's pants?!_"

Rhys froze, the plate she had been holding falling noisily into the sink; she made no move to retrieve it. Instead, she turned the faucet off and dried her hands, taking a long look at the pants she had thought were hers. But...these pants were black, had two or three belts wrapped around the waist, and were looser than the jeans she was used to. How had she not noticed that?

Blushing fiercely, she turned around to face the astounded teen. "Yeah, I guess they are," she admitted, looking at the floor.

Yusuke let out a low whistle. "Whoa, you're a sly cat! How'd you get those?" he asked innocently, though a perverted gleam lit his chocolate brown eyes.

Rhys was saved from having to answer when a tall carrot-haired teen lumbered onto the scene. "Hey, guys. Who has food?" he asked through a yawn.

"There's some on the table, Kuwabara. I'm sorry we woke you," the kiyone said, crossing her legs and extending her arms over her legs in an attempt to hinder anyone else from seeing what she was wearing.

"Nah, it's all right. I only woke up 'cause I was hungry. I think I was dreaming about breakfast or somethin'. I'm cravin' some waffles," Kuwabara said, obviously still half asleep. "You want any of this?" he asked Rhys as he and Yusuke began dividing the food on the table.

Yusuke answered for her. "No, she already ate. Besides, she has to get back to the naked fire demon in her bed." Rhys's blush deepened.

Kuwabara wrinkled his nose. "What d'ya mean, naked fire demon? The only fire demon we know is --" Here, the tall teen stopped chewing immediately. He looked from Yusuke's grinning face to Rhys's red one, then looked as though he was turning green. He quickly got to the garbage and spit out his food. He pointed an accusing finger at Yusuke. "Ew, Urameshi, you made me lose my appetite! What were you thinkin', giving me a nasty mental picture like that??"

Yusuke shrugged. "Well it's true. He can't be wearing much else if she's wearing his pants," he said casually, motioning to the short demon still cowering near the sink.

Kuwabara turned to look at the girl in question so fast his neck cracked. His eyes bulged as he took in the fact that: "You're wearing Shorty's pants!"

She sighed tiredly, walking across the room to the doorway and trying to fight down her blush to regain control of the situation. "Yes, these are Hiei's pants. I put them on by mistake. Now, if you'll excuse me, we're going to have a very angry fire demon on our hands if I don't get back before you wake him or anyone else up. Good night, boys." Her leave was followed by the stares of two teenage boys who were now, at three in the morning, unbelievably awake.

"So, Hiei's back," Yusuke said after a moment of silence, picking up a piece of left over chicken and taking a bite. "I guess."

Kuwabara turned back to stare at his friend. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

"That those two probably just had sex the whole day? Yeah," the black-haired teen said nonchalantly.

Kuwabara stiffly sat down. "And..."

"They're a couple now? Yeah."

"And..."

"They probably don't want anyone else to know? Yeah, but everyone else will want to know."

The orange-haired teen cradled his head in his hands as if trying to comprehend the situation. After a moment he turned to his best friend, asking, "And you're just sitting there, enjoying all of this?"

Yusuke grinned evilly, nodding. The next second, he attempted to bite into his tall sandwich.

Kuwabara stood, his appetite apparently gone. "I'm going back to bed. Maybe I won't remember this in the morning," he said, drifting out of the room.

- - - -

Before returning to her room, Rhys slipped quietly into a small bathroom. How could she have been so stupid as to go out wearing Hiei's pants? It wasn't _that_ dark in the room. Perhaps she was just overwhelmed with all that had happened in the last two days. After all, she had gone from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other, sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly, and she was still reeling. Reeling, spinning, falling, letting go...but simultaneously holding on.

Holding on to what, exactly? Her past, still? Her present? Her...future?

Oh, god. What was in store for her now that she was mated to Hiei? He was frighteningly intense and unpredictable, the way he tossed her thoughts around with a simple look.

And he had eliminated one of her only means of escape: She had told him that the cutting would stop. How was she going to accomplish that? Maybe she could ask the others for help -- NO. Then she'd have to tell them that she had been hurting herself all along! They would think she was a freak...like Hiei had. Was that why he said she could stop? Because he didn't want to be forever branded to an unstable psycho?

No, she almost laughed out loud, that wasn't the reason. He was still receiving her wounds. It was no wonder he wanted her to stop! Well, she'd just have to make him pay for being so selfish.

With narrowed, determined eyes, she swung open the door of the medicine cabinet and quickly located a pair of tweezers. They were easily and quickly bent open...one sharp point was lowered to the sensitive flesh that lined the inside of her lower right arm...it was time to add to the scars. Without thought, she gouged into her skin to leave deep, angry, screaming marks.

Blood quickly came to the surface, breathed in oxygen...and suddenly it was not blood, but fire pouring from her veins. Fire that twisted and fell like poured water, that was hot but didn't burn. She stared in fascination as it dropped to the floor, but didn't grow larger or ignite; it merely burned, and burned, and burned...

Her eyes, which had been dilated and unblinking, suddenly retracted and watered; she was returned by some unseen hand to her right state of mind. Now it wasn't fire, but merely the scarlet red of her young blood that she saw seeping from her once more self-inflicted wounds. And now, even though it wasn't fire, she felt a somewhat burning sensation where the wound was, one that brought tears to her eyes.

Pain?

Yes...something in the back of her mind registered the feeling as pain, something one encounters when one is injured.

Should she be happy? She had never before felt pain while harming herself - it usually came after - and the nonexistent reaction was something that had spurred her to cut more, to feel more...because if she couldn't feel pain, was she alive at all?

Was she alive now?

A laugh bubbled forth from her lips, only to turn into a sob. This feeling was what she had been trying to attain? Despite the tears now rushing down her face and even though she had to clench her teeth to do it, she smiled and her eyes shone.

It was over.

With the misshapen tweezers still clutched in her hand, with her arm still dripping life - life! - freely, she rose from the floor. (When had she sunken to the floor? Did it matter? She was rising now, nevertheless.). Her feet led her to her room, to where her mate lay sleeping...but not for long. She had to show him...explain to him that she had somehow stopped. He would never say it, but he would be so happy for her... .

She was pushing the door to her room open...taking quick steps to the bed where she had left her mate...smiling and crying at the same time...telling him, "It's over...it's over...it's over...it's --"

"Onna!" he said harshly, loudly, breaking her from her chant.

"Hiei...Hiei, look. Just look - it hurts!" she said, shoving her bleeding arm under his face. "It's never hurt before..."

His gaze switched from the tweezers clutched in her hand to her blood-soaked arm . "Did you do this?" he asked quietly, taking the bent piece of metal from her and letting it drop to the floor with a _clang_.

"Yes, but it's the last time. It hurts!" she insisted.

"That's what it's _supposed_ to do," he said forcefully. "I thought you wanted to stop?"

"I did - I do! Hiei, why don't you get it, it hurts!" she said impatiently.

"Quiet!" he said harshly. He sat up in the bed, the covers falling to his waist, and sat the now-silent Rhys in front of him. "Breathe," he ordered while tearing a strip of cloth from the blanket. While she did as she was told, he took her arm and wrapped it methodically around it, similar to his own bandages surrounding the Black Dragon, noticing that she did indeed wince in suppressed pain when he pulled too tight on the make-shift bandage.

He had just tied the wrappings off when she let out an, "Oh!" and turned to face him fully. She reached for his right arm and felt its underside, seemingly searching for something. "I can't tell...these are in the way," she muttered to herself, fingers fumbling with the wards protecting the world from the terrible Dragon on his arm.

His fingers came quickly to meet hers and stop them. "If you remove those, this room and the entire temple will be destroyed," he warned. "What are you looking for?"

"I'm looking - it's supposed to be here - it _has_ to be there - the cut. Like the one I have. You got it, right?" she asked, searching his face for an answer.

He frowned. "No."

Her brows creased in confusion. "But why not? It's supposed to --"

"_'It will continue to hurt you as she continues hurting herself,_' " Hiei interrupted, recalling the words of Rhys' father. "That's what I was told."

The confused look didn't leave her face, and her fingers fought against his, still trying to find signs of recent injury on his arm. "That still means --"

She was interrupted again when he used his free hand to cover her mouth. In the absence of their voices, an incomplete silence took the room. Crickets and other creatures of the night buzzed softly outside the confines of the temple; the distant hoot of an owl sounded. During this time, Hiei roamed his red eyes over his mates face, taking in all of her features.

"Until I want it to be there," he finished, locking eyes with her. Those crimson orbs said what he did not - or could not - say...and where they had, in other occasions, burned in anger or revulsion towards her, they now were lit with something entirely new...

She stopped fighting him, instead intertwining their fingers and giving his hand a squeeze. He removed his hand from before her lips as his own twitched upwards into something resembling an upside-down frown.

And they were both free.

**-- The End --**

The title of this chapter, _"Liebe Erobert Alle,"_ is German for "Love conquers all." Because it does. _(Note: Translation was found on-line, so it may not be perfect.)_

So this is is. The end is finally here. What did you think? I personally feel that this chapter is the best of anything I've ever written. Did you like the ending? Was anything left unclear? Tell me!

It's satisfying to know that my first fic is finally complete and posted. It was probably obvious that I have personally dealt with some issues in this fic - like the cutting. I'm happy to say that that part of my life is in my past, and I have learned from it and grown. But in that time period, one of the only things that made me somewhat happy was writing this fic. I felt relieved to pour out my emotions and even create a story around them and share it with others. This story can be seen as a testament to that, and as an encouragement to others who are struggling with it: I got through it. Rhys got through it. You can get through it as well, and you are never alone.

I would like to dedicate this whole story to all authors who are just starting out, who have just posted their first story and are nervous and excited about how well it will do; we've all been there.

I'm not sure if I am going to post any more stories under this penname; I have no plans to as of yet, not stories waiting, no ideas even jumping to get written. If you are interested in some of my other stories, I have another penname on here, everto, with a big story in the process of being written and posted. It's dark, and as of now going nowhere, but the first two or three chapters are up if you would like to check them out.

I'm more active at under the name of femba; there I post reader-insertions. Currently up is a complete YouxKurama fic; it's sequel has four chapters already posted; a YouxEd FullMetal Alchemist fic is also being posted there; some random poetry is also there.

I would like to thank everyone who has read this fic and followed it to it's end and, especially, reviewed it. You encouraged me to keep writing, and there are no words that I know that can thank you for that. And if you decide to read some other things of mine, thank you for that, too. Until next time, goodbye.


End file.
